I have been thinking again about Narrative Inquiry as methodological framework. People tell their experiences through ’stories’. We share stories in everyday life, clients tell their stories during therapeutic sessions as ways of communicating and making meaning of the self and the world. In qualitative research,many stories are narrated on behalf of research participants to capture the experience of the phenomenon described…so many stories are woven within the human identity, though the interpersonal relations…life in general, is full of stories. Even the writing up of a research project is another ’story’. I read an interesting quote today around this. Here it is: … Read more »

During the past few days, I have been dealing with personal issues. I am now consiously trying to restore my energy, to feed and nurture myseld somehow, to pace myself and show respect to the processes am going through. The research clock is ‘ticking’ and this makes me stressed but my supervisor advises me to trust the process. Self-care shall be a priority, whatever work am doing and however busy I am. The PhD shall not ‘take over’ my life, i shall remain healthy and balanced in all its demands. Hope things go well, hope my heart and mind get clear soon,hope i overcome the ‘crisis’ and come back to this space in more creative and resourceful ways…

I notice that I cannot write in this blog when my personal life is in turmoil and therefore the research gets ’stuck’, as does the flow of the rest of my life…I just want to’confess’ to myself and any readers that this shall be OK for me. Life and its upheavals cannot stop during the PhD period, many things might come on the way and make a whole mess in my process…like another research student wrote on the flipchart as he was presneting the overview of his research, ‘life is still happening’ and as a result, there will be times that the research has to wait for a while, until there is a clearer mind and heart (of the researcher) to continue with it. I am going through a lot at the minute, at so many levels, it’snot easy…so i will be writing when it feels ok to do so…respecting my need for not being too exposed, when feeling insecure. Thank you (i consider this as a sign of developing my ability for self-care, sth that I know I haven’t been very good at in the past)

our meeting today was mostly emotionally engagin, we talked a lot about how the research topic am focusing on is triggering my own wounds, how i process those repsonses, what  i need to do to look after myself (personal therapy, self care etc) and how to move forward.

 we looked at potential participants i already have access to (focus group, Soti and Sophia, Kam and Pittu, those i met/meet at conferences , marina in athens etc). we agreed to meet again and do a mapping exercise. In the meantime i can do some reading, found interesting articles and books in the library.

 more soon, feel quite drained now, a lot of processing

It seems I am going through a period of re-birth. It started a while ago and has involved a number of experiences with strong emotional responses. Now, it feels like i have to be strong enough to make a ‘breakthrough’. This might sound irrelevant to the research process but, actually, is not. In order for me to find the ‘researcher’s voice’, my top priority shall be my own well-being. The topics I have been involved in during the research period have been woven through so many personal experiences and this has not been, and still isn’t an easy process. But I nead to respect my pace and allow for things to emerge at their own time. … Read more »