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I sometimes fall into the trap of thinking I shouldn’t put anything in writing until I’ve reached the definitive bottom line on whatever it is, even when I know that’s very unlikely to happen. The practical result is that I rarely write at all, because I’m constantly revising my opinions to incorporate new information, and it never ends.
I haven’t abandoned the blog, but this internship has left me feeling sort of overloaded with ideas and impressions that I’m still trying to process. The lack of certainty in the social sciences (and the practical applications thereof) is really getting to me right now, and I need to come to terms with it enough that I can go ahead and do constructive work regardless. Any ideas for how to do that when the definition of “constructive” is exactly what seems so elusive?
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Comments
12.10.09
Elizabeth, you are SO preaching to the choir on this one! I have been trapped by my indecision before and it makes blogging...and crafting a career path so difficult. For instance, it took me forever to decide what I wanted to write a blog on. Then it took me forever to choose a platform. I chose one then changed to another, then changed my blog topic and had to email wordpress to recover my old blog topic because I changed my mind again. Lol
What has helped me with blogging specifically is sitting down and telling myself I will write something "bad" or "unfinished". For me, it removes the burden of having to write "A Great Post!" with tons of information! and clever wordplay! and interesting links! and fresh insights...you know, that "great post" you spend a week and half writing without ever posting. I write something bad. And then I make it better. And then I post it. I don't know if you listened in to the video call last night but Penelope made it very clear that the blog is about figuring things out, not showing to the world what you know already. So it's ok if your first posts are not perfect.
12.10.09
As if this wasn't long enough...
My lack of certainty in the social sciences (namely sociology's approach to a number of things) is the reason I chose to study economics and am passionate about the integration of market forces and social good. That subject is a post in and of itself.
12.10.09
I was initially a political science major but grew annoyed by the practice and attitude of the field. But I still had a desire to study society's behavior and methods of improving the conditions of our society. I eventually gravitated towards economics because of my desire to understand the economic forces that control our society. Totally understand where you guys are coming from about being indecisive too. Everyday is a mental battle of some sort.
12.10.09
If there's anything I've learned from working for an entrepreneur for the past year and a half, it's that not everything has to be carefully weighed; that part of growing as a person and as a productive businessperson is figuring out which tasks require a lot of research and consideration and which don't so you can allocate your (extremely valuable!) time accordingly.
The great thing about blogging, for example, is that nothing is static. If you find more information after you've published something, you can always go back and change or add what you originally wrote -- or, even better, simply reference the previous post and build on it in an entirely new article. (I recommend being 100% transparent about changes to articles which have already been published, though, in the form of a footnote somewhere in the post.)
12.11.09
Thanks for the thought-provoking comments. I like the points about blogging to figure things out, not to show what you're already sure of, and that research time needs to be carefully allocated.
I ended up a geography major because it's interdisciplinary, with aspects of politics, economics, and sociology, among others. I found political science too concerned with military strategy, and economics too finance-oriented (my school sends a shocking proportion of graduates to Wall Street).
Still, I'm not sure it's about academic disciplines as much as it's about the nature of nonprofits and public policy, versus for-profit enterprises. In the private sector, you can tell whether a venture is successful by whether or not it's profitable. In the public and nonprofit sector there's no such measure, and every metric that's been proposed has a different set of reasons why it's totally inadequate.
And that's in itself an illustration of how blogging helps you figure things out-- I'm no more certain of the answer than I was when I started, but at least you've helped me more clearly articulate the problem! (I think, anyway.)
12.11.09
By the way, Kim, where do you blog? I couldn't find a link on your profile...
12.11.09
Elizabeth,
That's one of the toss ups about nonprofits. There seems to be a lot of variations on what you can do and how much you can get away with. On the flipside, nonprofits and public policies are some of the most creative fields that I know. it's where you can really make things happen.
What I had to keep in mind when working with NP's is that you just have to roll with the punches. And bringing some of those business sensibilities to your work is often really helpful as well. Look into the areas of Corporate Social responsibility and sustainability and you'll see what I mean :)
Good luck!
12.12.09
@ Elizabeth. I'm currently moving my blogs from blogger to wordpress and adding a few posts before linking it to Brazen Careerist. I'll let you know when I do though. :)
08.19.10
Valuable information and excellent design you got here! I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and time into the stuff you post!! Thumbs up FHA Home Loan
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