A researcher's rest journal: At your own pace

Hi there,

Thanks for stopping by! The sky was overcast earlier, but some golden morning sun is peeking through now. The rice cooker is rattling away as it cooks some pumpkin. My mom’s puttering about the kitchen, finishing up lunch for my granddad. I hope wherever you are reading this, the day is relaxing and if it’s not, maybe it can wind its way there in time. Maybe a book or warm drink is in order. Welcome to my researcher’s rest journal.

Still retaining the spirit of hanging out around fellow writers from last week, I just concluded alongside History Through Fiction its first Writing Conference. Follow these authors on IG for Conference pictures!

Well, to say ‘alongside’ is a bit of a misnomer, given I’m one Indian Ocean and one Atlantic Ocean away from Boston.

See? One day though

Virtual sessions were unfortunately a nope for me too, for the most part, because I was finishing up a manuscript from a client. Also my brain decided it needed a day at a time to process each session. 

Actually, let’s make this a learning moment in terms of rest.

Fellow writers, researchers, there’s no need to consume resources and content immediately just because it’s available then. Watch your availability, your processing capacity, your energy levels. Legitimate and properly run events will record their sessions, and certainly take advantage of those. But there’s no point overloading yourself to absorb everything there is in the name of self-betterment; that runs counter to the spirit of rest.

But better trust, I have full intentions of rewatching every single session, and taking notes. To those of you who registered for the conference, please remember you have this amazing material at hand. 

I did attend a couple of virtual sessions, including one by my friend Jillian Forsberg on The Archetype of Animals, and the Closing Ceremony. As I lay in bed, listening, taking in the energy of the room, how appreciative everyone was, how happy and grateful writers were to commune, it really drives the point home: We writers appreciate and need quiet and solitude more often than not, but there is truly a different sort of rest when we get to fellowship with people who understand our journey, our struggles. People with a story inside them like us. 

But like I said, there’s recharging with others, socializing, sharing a space. And then there’s doing it even when your body/schedule/brain shouts at you that you don’t have it in you at a certain moment.

Madeline Martin delivers closing remarks on this incredible event

It was a fine thought to chew on.

Journal question: When you are writing, reading, thinking about how to spend your time as a researcher, are you rushing the process? Or are you using your time efficiently and taking things at your own pace? 

See you again next week,
Ian Tan, intern
History Through Fiction