I know the day on which I defended my dissertation, mostly because it was the day on which my one and only live-in boyfriend was born, and I defended on his birthday only a few short months after we split up.
In general, I suck with dates. I typically only remember important dates (unless they are actual holidays with a fixed date) with a 6-day or so window, with the exception of my birthday, my (biological) dad and mom’s anniversary (which let’s note was the day before St. Patrick’s Day, so that’s not exactly difficult to remember) and with the exception of a few other dates that happen to fall around other important dates (My first love’s birthday, A’s birthday, and my grade school best friend’s birthday all happen in a three-day span). Seriously: Ask BFF, or HS BFF, if I know their birthdays and they will tell you, “Dr. Crazy sucks with the thoughtful remembrance of dates. She’s great in a lot of other ways, but you can totally expect that she will call you on your actual birthday and not remember. And then she might send you a card or a present after you remind her, but only after that.” And let’s note that I have no idea when my mom and G’s wedding anniversary is other than that “it’s in October.” Luckily, neither of them cares about it at all.
Anyway, noting this anniversary made me realize I’d totally forgotten my blogiversary, which was something like end-of-July eight years ago, though I don’t actually care that I commemorate that anymore because clearly I am like Professor Binns in Harry Potter who goes on and on beyond the actual expiration date of human (or bloggy) life.
Here are the things that are awesome for me now, that were not awesome when I defended:
- I really think that I have good ideas. I don’t give a shit about how other people evaluate them.
- Even if my ideas suck? It doesn’t mean that I suck.
- What matters most in all of this is that I’m doing work that helps see new ideas, that realizes that it’s not about an answer but about a question.
- And regarding the question? What matters is that there are questions. Questions mean something. Questions mean more than answers.
So. I’m Dr. Crazy. And I wouldn’t be if I’d not gotten a job offer, defended a dissertation, been me. So there we are.
w00t!
Yay! You go, Dr C. And…er… you do like Dr C, right? The rest of us sure do!
It’s amazing how much one changes post-dissertation. You care less and less about what others think and have a tremendous rise in confidence. I don’t know if that’s because of the diss, necessarily. Maybe it’s a combination of getting through that hoop and maturing as an academic. Then again, if I hadn’t gotten a full-time job, I might never have felt “worthy” in the world. Who knows? There are a lot of elements that add to the happy academic life — being post-diss is most certainly one of them. Happy day!
Happy dissiversary! I grinned to read that you actually know the date. In my own case, I can just refer to my archived blog post.
I would very much like to reach that Zen-like stage of “questions upon questions” you describe. As always, you are a role model for me!
Belle – I like Dr. C – I just no longer feel the need to commemorate blogiversaries, apparently
Koshary, you did note that the date sticks in my head because of an ex? I doubt I’d know it otherwise – I mean, I’m not a date-person, generally
I don’t remember the date I defended, but I do remember the suit I was wearing. It’s still in my closet, but it’s been a while since I’ve fit in it.