Yesterday in class, we did a simple, yet for me, annoying exercise: write continuously for seven minutes, starting with the phrase “I am writing my master’s thesis about…” No stopping, no editing, no thinking too much … just writing.
What began as a stream of random thoughts quickly turned into something more revealing. I switched from English to German almost instantly, because it felt more natural — and maybe also because the topic touches something personal. I found myself writing about how religion, especially Catholicism, still influences me, and how my relationship with it has changed over time.
I realized that my thesis isn’t just about “religion and millennials” in an abstract sense. It’s about the tension between belief and institution, between faith and church. I wrote about how many of my friends have turned away from religion, how the Church has lost credibility, and yet how my personal faith still gives me strength. That contradiction — being supported by something that many reject — feels like the heart of what I want to explore.
During those seven minutes, I also wrote about my uncertainty: How can I make this topic interactive? How can I visualize something as internal and emotional as belief? I imagined a projection inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral, a space that already carries so much symbolic weight. But what would I actually project? What is the question behind the light?
By the end of the exercise, I was exhausted and a little frustrated. Seven minutes can feel endless when you’re forced to confront your own thoughts without a filter. The writing helped me see that I don’t need to have all the answers yet.
This small exercise reminded me that creative research isn’t only about collecting data or designing interfaces. It’s also about listening to yourself, about noticing what questions keep returning, even when I tried to avoid them. Question like: Can faith exist without the institution of the Church? But my topic includes the topic of distance as well. Maybe something i should focus more on and something i can work with in my interactive part.
Dissclaimer: AI was used here for a better wording
