What might it mean to approach your dissertation whole-heartedly?
What does “whole-hearted” even mean?
Dr. Brene Brown has a great TED talk on just this topic and, at the risk of giving away the punch-line, a large part of what we need to feel connected and whole-hearted, even in the context of the dissertation, is to allow ourselves to feel vulnerable… to do what’s necessary, even without knowing what the outcome will be; to give up a longing to apply the “predict and control” mindset of research to our own life process and instead apply a willingness to do the work and see what emerges.
And vulnerability leads to other sorts of important elements we need to feel connected to the dissertation, to the committee, to the process of dissertating: the courage to be imperfect, compassion for ourselves (and then to others), authentic connection by letting go what we think “should be” to allow “what is” to be enough.
I invite you to actively listen to Dr. Brown’s talk — she’s funny and a great example of connecting with her audience through her own vulnerability. Listen with an ear to the process of doing a dissertation and let me know what you think — what popped out at you?