Starting Line

It's official. Not only have I begun researching my dissertation in earnest, but I have entered the blogosphere. At the same time.

To do either of those at any given time is a daunting task. The pressure of needing “fresh copy” posted to a blog regularly in order to keep my many readers satiated; the scholarly demands of a research topic that offers a diploma as its ultimate reward, but not before you have given up most of your free time outside of your full-time job for a minimum of four years. Yes, either of these pursuits is onerous. So to do them simultaneously with the intent to expose my research explorations before they are ripe is possibly one of the nuttiest ideas I have ever had.

My husband and perhaps a handful of psychiatrists might suggest that I am avoiding the real work because I am afraid of success. I just chalk it up to the creative process. You cannot bottle up the ideas that fly at you willy-nilly. Some ideas simply will not wait. So you juggle. And in this case, I know that is exactly what I must do. Neither of these two efforts can sit on a back burner while the other gets cooking. So I thought, I may as well give in. The pull is just too strong not to.

And here’s why (pay attention, because this will be one of my recurring ideas): it's all connected. Maybe I should just flag that right now as my own personal tag line: It’s all connected.

Hmm. I kindof like that.

But seriously, the blogging, the research, the tangential ideas shooting out from this unidentified energy source inside my brain ... it's all bubbling up because it cannot remain beneath the surface any longer. The time has come.

It isn't as though I am tackling a pretty topic in my quest for a PhD. I've decided that my dissertation will delve into a painful subject that has universal but also very personal relevance. Yet, I know it is my destiny, if I can mangle a Darth Vader quote.

I cannot escape it.

Actually, I didn't “decide” anything. My topic was one of those "meant to be" experiences, but I am getting way ahead of things. Let me introduce myself and tell you what I'm doing out here in Blog Nation. There will be time to explain the “great epiphany of dissertation topic identification” in a subsequent blog.

I was born and raised in Seymour, Connecticut, a small, former mill town, home of the Wildcats, the old Strand Theater and the annual Pumpkin Festival. I grew up with five brothers and a sister, all of whom pretty much were the guarantee that I would grow into a competitive, sensitive female who enjoys sports but doesn't excel at them, loves books, and can cook sufficiently to feed an army (or at least a 9-member family, give or take a random dinner guest or two).

I dreamed about all the places I wanted to visit, but didn't venture much outside of Seymour except in my imagination. There, I was an undercover cop, a champion ice skater, a popular singer. I also hung out a lot with Starsky & Hutch.

Wait, that wasn’t real?

Of course, my imaginary meanderings became legitimate stories when I started my career in journalism. For 15 years, I peeked behind the curtain of a variety of jobs and situations, dug deep for the “real story,” and scratched for those “telling details” that good writers hang their hats on. It was a fun job, demanding and consuming, but rewarding in more ways than I ever imagined.

Then I made a career move. I wanted to know what else I could do with my communications skills that would give me the freedom of weekends and evenings off. (Note: this, I have come to learn, is a matter of personal choice and priority. Don’t blame it on the job.) I also decided that third-floor apartment living was not going to cut it anymore. It may have been on grocery day, after lugging eight plastic grocery bags of food up three flights of stairs. A bigger paycheck and a more “9-to-5” work schedule was in order. I went to the dark side.

(Again with the Star Wars reference. Sorry, but I literally heard that remark when I resigned from my newspaper job to take a public relations job.)

Since that first move out of newspapers, I have taken my “boot camp” training into a variety of communications roles. No matter the job, I have remained a student of life, interested in the stories of the people I met. Their stories are what made them unique and interesting.

This blog is called "Walking distance." It is a metaphor, of course, for the long road I am traveling to my doctorate. But it is a much more complex metaphor (as you will learn is something of a pattern with me - to have complexity and multiple layers in the things I do). I don’t want to give away the store in the first post, so for now, suffice to say that the meanings emanating from this blog will often fit into the idea of its simple title. The primary journey I am embarking on to Dissertation Land will be represented in small portion compared to the greater experience that lies ahead. But one step at a time.

If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step (thank you, Lao-tzu), then this journey that begins with a formal research project in grad school is a fitting starting line for my blogathon. I can tell you that the road ahead already has offered some mind-boggling revelations, and I will share with you what I am learning that goes beyond research. It’s a remarkable life lesson.

Check in on me now and then, if you would, or follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MareHeffernan) to see where I’m at. None of us walks alone. Either way, I welcome your company on the journey.