So as my thesis work progresses I am beginning to feel like I am studying this one topic and this one topic only. Now I'm not saying that this is a boring practice- rather that I LOVE being this invested in one specific area but I am feeling a bit selfish almost. It seems that I have always found great value in not being too focused on one area, always valuing the open minded approach to learning- that you can learn about a million topics in any given day and that is so exciting. However here with this thesis study I really am looking with a microscopic lense at my ONE topic. It literally is painful for me, and almost feels wrong, that I print off articles to read and then I notice its not on my topic so I don't read them. What is going on! I know that I get to be this specialized in my interests this year because that is how to write a comprehensive study of this topic- it is my job and my privilege to slow down from the fanatic pace of education and study in depth this topic. I feel that this is an appropriate time to be learning in such a specialized way but I feel fortunate that I didn't get too specialized earlier in my education. I was always glad that I wasn't a kid who picked one activity and only did that activity- or in college going to a liberal arts school allowed me to not have to pick one discipline until well into my 2nd year. That model worked well for me. But now with this thesis project I am starting to see great value in a specified study and I'm going to attempt to relate that thinking to other areas of life:
Is there immense value in buckling down to one activity or discipline and excelling there versus learning through doing many?
Was my experience "just exploring and doing whichever activity seemed interesting that day/year" a kind of hodge-podge approach to finding my interests?