Visual Research Methods Retrospective

I originally started this blog for my Visual Research Method course to fulfill the requirements for the class.  Initially, I thought that this would be a great idea.  I could articulate my scholarly thoughts in a centralized location, and maybe have a commitment to academic blogging that would be helpful as I begin to undertake my quals.  Throughout the course, I have found that I generally like blogging while I am actually typing, however, this seems to be complicated by two main issues:  finding the time to actually sit down to make the blog and finding thoughts to make a blog about.  This semester more than any other, I have been in a perpetual state of panic about not having enough time to complete all of my assignments and responsibilities.  Perhaps if I were taking less than a full load of classes, or not working, or not preparing to leave the country for the summer, I would look forward blogging instead of  having to find time in my schedule, which usually meant not going to bed in order to fit a post into my schedule.  Additionally, I found that most often when I sat down to compose my blogs, I simply felt like I was being redundant.  I thought my blog would be a place for me to work out my thoughts and have a less structured way to explore my theories, however, I hadn't realized that I am already participating in working out my thoughts outside the classroom and my academic papers as my husband and I are constantly doing this at home.  By the time I sat down to write my ideas for my blog, certain ideas had already been processed in my head and debated with my husband, which meant I had already worked through specific issues and was not really sure what to write, because I wasn't sure if I was writing this to myself, in which case I felt that I was simply rewriting what had been said, or if I was writing for someone who was completely unfamiliar with these topics, in which case I was spending too much time outlining background, also feeling redundant, and not really getting to the meat of the issue.  Even though I was kind of writing for classmates, so many of the members of the VRM class have different backgrounds, it was hard to figure out what was common ground. Perhaps if I simply need to figure out who my audience is.

I think I will continue blogging even when the class is over, but I do need to reevaluate the purpose of my blog and what my ultimate goal is in blogging, so that I don't feel self defeating.  It is helpful to have a record of ideas and theories, not just class papers, to see how ideas are developing over time.  Academic blogging has made me less wary of academic competition, especially since as recently as last semester I had been told that making your ideas known as an academic before projects are completed allows others to "steal" your ideas and complete books before you.  Especially in the humanities, I need to worry less about "unique" ideas, and worry more about being in conversation with existing scholarship, and blogging can help me find that existing scholarship.