Entry
for 3 December 2011:
I’ve
been working on a huge review chapter on research on experiential
psychotherapies for the past 6 months, and finally finished it late last night,
three months late. I don’t know if the
editor will take it that late, but for now I’m glad to have my life back. At times, I despaired we’d ever finish it,
but fortunately my co-authors came through with their bits, and that gave me
the impetus to push on, if only for the sake of the effort they’d put in.
Toward
the end, as the chapter got more and more overdue, it gradually took over more
and more bits of my life, crowding out things like writing blog entries,
running, Saturday Adventures, watching television, going to the folk club,
doing email, church, taking a reasonable time to eat breakfast in the morning,
reading more than a few pages of science fiction a day, grocery shopping, and
so on. At times it felt like having some
sort of life-sapping illness. I rarely
cheated on my sleep; and I continued to make adequate space for my clients, and
did my teaching. However, my PhD and MSc
students have been neglected (apologies to them!), and at the end Diane had
help me check the 300 references.
Yesterday,
as the End come into view, I became elated at the prospect of getting my life
back. Finally, about 11pm I sent it off
to the editor and my co-authors. Diane
and I celebrated by watching an episode of The
Mentalist and, just for good measure, The
Big Bang Theory. Then, this morning
I went for a run, we had a leisurely brunch, and then went on our first
Saturday Adventure in a month:
We
walked over to see the newly installed Antonine Wall exhibit at the Hunterian
Museum at the University of Glasgow. For
last 300 years they have been collecting the old Roman mile markers, from the
road built by the Roman legions about 140 C.E. just behind the Antonine Wall,
which spans central Scotland, from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of
Clyde. In addition to almost all of the
mile markers, they’ve got grave stones, altar stones, lots of statues of the
Goddesses Fortuna (Fortune or Luck) and Victoria (Winged Victory), and quite a
few bas relief cartoon-like depictions of bad things happening to celtic
warriors and prisoners. There are even a
couple of statues of Silenus, Bacchus’ drinking companion. There are also lots of roman household artifacts
found in the Glasgow area, some quite fascinating, like a cheese press and
accompanying lead weight, or fake tin denarius coins for a wishing well. Afterwards, we made a quick visit to the
nearby Hunterian Art Museum, which I think is underrated due to the proximity
of the Kelvingrove, but has its pleasures.
Finally, we walked along Byres Road, and then home again. Saturday Adventures were back!
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