The
Three Futile Strategies
 Scholarly writing demands that you be comfortable with
uncertainty, from the moment you have your first research
idea. Who hasn't had these types of thoughts during
the course of a project?
- Is this topic worth investigating, or is it stupid?
- Do I know how to write?
- Will they reject this article?
- Am I cut out for
academia?
- Do I deserve a Ph.D.?
So how do you withstand that (hopefully daily) moment when
you sit down to write, and you are forced to come face to
face with your uncertainty?
 The most typical response is to run from it. "Daily
writing? I'm too busy! I can't afford 20 minutes
away from checking on my email! I can't concentrate
with all this other stuff going on!"
I have been reading Comfortable
with Uncertainty, by Pema
Chodron, a Buddhist nun. Many of her teachings, which are
based on such self-accepting practices as "Start where
you are," can offer insight into how best to function
in an academic career, particularly the process of writing
a scholarly piece of work. I like her words so much that
I will offer a number of quotes from this book.
Pema Chodron says, "As a species, we should never
underestimate our low tolerance for discomfort." (p.
13) And discomfort is exactly what sitting down to write
tends to bring you. She points out, "We become habituated
to reaching for something to ease the edginess of the moment.
Thus we become less and less able to reside with even the
most fleeting uneasiness or discomfort." (p. 53)
What do you reach for? For me, it's email. And if
that fails, Spider Solitaire. I've cured myself of
my Snood addiction. But there's always something to
replace it.
The Three Futile Strategies
How do we deal with the fact that we avoid the uncomfortable?
In the case of academics, how do you deal with the fact
that you're not writing enough? Pema Chodron describes
the "Three Futile Strategies." These strategies
for dealing with the fact that you have a problem are called "attacking
[yourself], indulging, and ignoring." (p. 63) Perhaps
you can recognize yourself in one of them.
- The strategy of attacking yourself consists of seeing
your "badness" and hating yourself for it:
·
"I haven't worked on that article for a month:
I'm an idiot."
·
"I'm disgusted with myself for wasting this day
procrastinating."
- The strategy of indulging involves self-justification
and believing your own excuses:
· "I can't stop myself from avoiding writing; it's
just too hard for me to write."
· "I need deadlines in order to produce anything; I can't
work any other way."
- The strategy of ignoring (or fiddling while Rome
burns) means that you don't even see that you are
avoiding:
· "I'm in my third year of a tenure track position
and I suddenly realized that I need to publish."
· "I thrive under deadline pressure. I can write my literature
review in three weeks."
Become Comfortable with Discomfort
 What's the alternative? Here is the "enlightened
strategy" suggested by Pema. She suggests that you "try
fully experiencing whatever you've been resisting – without
exiting in your habitual ways. Become inquisitive about
your habits." (p. 64.) In other words, we should try
to "…taste the flavor of what we fear and move
toward what we habitually avoid." (p. xvi)
In other words, instead of running from the bad feeling,
run towards it. Sit down to write, and notice what it feels
like. "Sticking with uncertainty is how we learn to
relax in the midst of chaos, how we learn to be cool when
the ground beneath us suddenly disappears." (p. 8)
There is nothing worse than that feeling you get, when
you know that you're avoiding something you really
must do. It weighs down on your shoulders and infects your
mood. When we finally force ourselves to do the writing
we're desperately avoiding, we notice that "connecting
with our experience by meeting it feels better than resisting
it by moving away. Being on the spot, even if it hurts,
is preferable to avoiding." (p. 43)
So sit down to write. Sure, it feels yukky. Do it for 10
minutes and find out that you survived. Then do it the next
day. Be curious about how and when the discomfort will come
and go. You not only will get some writing done, you will
feel very good about yourself.
Warmly,
Gina
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