Word has it that a certain amount of stress is a good thing, and I'm inclined to agree. . . I've long since accepted that in order to really produce any meaningful work, I need to have a certain level of anxiety working to spur on the activity. And so, this past week I really put my foot down and tried to make some headway. So far so good. The listed documents are of all different types and lengths, down to the actual typefaces involved. There is a mixture of dialect and Latin along with what might be called straightforward 16th-century English. I am able to say that I know a lot more than I once did, and I am also able to say that there are some details about 16th century orthography and terminology that I need more information on. Progress, though, is a good thing, and whereas I still experience some nervousness at the scope of what I've taken on, I do anticipate having something substantial to reveal at the end of the sabbatical period.
Alas, even now there are tiny hints of the real world reasserting itself: book orders and course descriptions for the summer and the fall semesters. I imagine that I'll be ready to get back to it when the time comes, but I have really enjoyed the chance to immerse myself in work on something. Good work takes hours of uninterrupted time, and a full teaching load doesn't allow for that . . . not if you plan on having relationships with colleagues or with your own family.
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