It’s nearly 4a.m. and I’m still up because the SSHRC website is overloaded and I can’t retrieve my online application. Strangely though, I’m calm and resigned. I have no excuse. I’ve been told that the website tends to crash on the eve of the application deadline. But for some reason unfathomable to myself, I kept working on my Program of Work instead of printing out the online application forms earlier. Hmmm. Small consolation that my OGS application is completed without a hitch.
It is with resignation, not conviction, that I recite what seems to be my creed:
1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
7. I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesimally small, is not exactly zero.
8. If at first I don’t succeed, there is always next year.
9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
10. I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
11. I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
13.I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
Lame humour aside, I’m grateful to friends who helped comment on my evolving proposal: HX, Wanting, Calvin. Heartfelt thanks in particular to HJ, HM & Kenneth who sacrificed precious hours of sleep to provide detailed comments on my SSHRC program of work. You guys are truly gems. Merci beaucoup.
Journey of the Heart 