My sis and I running some errands today. It felt so good to do some practical things for once - they are so measurable (not that we look practical in that picture! :). Go to the bank, check safety and emissions on the car, return a pair of shoes, groceries, cooking...Researching and writing can't be quantified, it's just this e n d l e s s process. With errands I could actually check things off a list - done, done, done. *Sigh*.
Not like "learn about tapestry centers in the fifteenth century in and around France" or "research the meaning of birds in relation to maidens in medieval iconography" which seem to take a lifetime and don't actually produce anything. No checking off a list because there's never a "finishing point."
This is why things like cleaning become the reward, because they have a definite end point. With research, you could have always done more, tweaked more, edited and rewritten more. Sometimes I think higher academia was designed just to cause guilt--especially in conscientious, feeling, and attractive young women like ourselves. Come to think of it, middle school teaching is designed that way as well. I could always do more, comment more, be more involved, hand out candy more, etc., etc.
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