When I’m working for long periods of time on things, I often internalize bits of Montaigne’s essays that I read in college. One of these (that I looked for briefly but couldn’t find) has a quote at the end about how something as simple as a bit of indigestion or a hangnail can ruin one’s concentration for the day.
After I finished my own papers for the semester, I took a day or two to refresh my mind and then I started commenting on my students’ research papers. Yesterday, expecting to get the final round done, I was struck with a resurgence of an old back injury (which was so intense that I had to have David help me stand up). Then I couldn’t focus (in the haze of pain) until the evening.
It’s strange how physical pain can impair mental concentration. Perhaps a more disciplined person would have just worked through the pain, but I am not a disciplined person. I did feel like an awful teacher, though.
Now it’s nose to the grindstone so I can give my students a good four days to revise and/or meet with me before they turn in their final drafts.
unsuspecting revolutionary 