Shaving, Crockpot Thinking, and Dissertations

For the past two weeks I have been struggling with crafting
the introduction to my dissertation. I have written nearly sev-
en chapters in rough form and there are two more to write.
Usually the introduction is written after the complete first
draft is done, but I decided to do it before I did the remaining
chapters.

Most of my time has been spent struggling to shape a concise
thesis statement that would provide shape and structure to
the whole dissertation. I anticipate that the thesis statement,
if done well, will help me write the final two chapters and shape
the other chapters. As I had expected, writing my thesis state-
ment has been a time- and energy-consuming process. I tend
to do a lot of pacing when I'm doing hard mental work, and for
the past ten days I have done a lot of it.

Then there are times when ideas or words plop themselves down
in my mind when I least expect them. This happened this morn-
ing while I was shaving. The day before I had been very pleased
with the way my thesis statement was coming into focus. I don't
want to share it with you at this point, but know that it was ten
well-chosen words that communicated clearly and effectively
what I wanted to say in my dissertation. I was pleased, but there
still seemed to be something missing and I didn't know what it
was.

I had just woken up from a good sleep and I was shaving, some-
thing I do every morning. Somewhat lost in my thoughts, I was
enjoying the way the thesis statement developed. All of a sud-
den, as if out of thin air, one single word plopped into my mind
and into the thesis statement. In my mind I put it at the very
beginning of the statement, and it made a lot of sense. I could-
not contain my excitement! I finished shaving and then wrote
a single word on a Post-It note. My mind was racing, making
sense of whole sections of several chapters and connecting
them with the overall thesis statement. It really made my day!

Wishing you all the best.