Keeping a notebook around is pretty handy

This week it has been a struggle to get past the last section of the thesis. Partially, because I don't want this last chapter to be flat. I also want to be innovative and use some suggestions for ministry that were touched upon in the books that I had researched.

More than anything, it has also been a week of stopping and starting. Instead of being able to focus four or five days a week to writing, it has been two days. That has been the biggest change since school began Tuesday.

The idea forming has come very slowly this week. As a way to jump start my thoughts, I have outlined my points on a chalkboard and whiteboard on different occasions. The written outline I submitted to my thesis advisor remains the same, but the ideas I hope to extract from it has become a bit of a struggle.

Trying to break through the block, I began an idea session on Wednesday night. I just created a word association chart on the board. It helped me gather ideas for that immediate moment as I finished my introduction and editing of chapters 1 through 4. But the best part came as I prepared for bed that night.

After turning out the lights, ideas were flying through my mind. I was trying to stop my brain for a moment to rest, but it did not work so well. Instead, I arose several times in the next 30 minutes to write down ideas and construct thoughts. I left my room, entered my office space and scribbled a few more words down. Back to bed I went. Then two minutes later, more ideas came across. Again, I left the comfy flannel sheets and plodded off to my desk for a moment or two.

Literally, this continued for 30 or 45 minutes until I was out of ideas for the night. It helped me form the last chapter and in coming days it helped me articulate my thesis to colleagues and my supervisor.

I think I laughed as I finally closed my eyes that night. Could my last chapter really have been constructed in a flurry of word associations scribbled on scratch paper in a half-daze? Awesome.