Looking back at the past weeks, I realise how much my thesis process has shifted. What began as a vague interest without clear direction has slowly turned into something more defined. At the same time, it still feels open. I am no longer at the very beginning, but I also don’t feel like I have fully arrived anywhere yet.
The only thing that currently creates pressure is the upcoming deadline. In less than ten days, I have to submit my final exposé. It feels strange, because I only recently reached a point where I feel fully engaged in my research. For a long time, I was circling around ideas without committing to them. Now that I am actively exploring and making connections, I wish I had more time to stay in this phase. But I also understand that exploration cannot continue indefinitely. At some point, it becomes necessary to define a direction. Otherwise, it is easy to get lost in the endless number of possibilities. There will always be more books to read, more conversations to have, and more perspectives to consider. The challenge is not only to explore, but also to decide.
My next step is to work with the feedback I received last week and begin formulating a clear research question. Until now, I have been collecting ideas, references, observations without forcing them into a fixed structure. Now, I need to translate these fragments into something more precise. This feels both exciting and challenging. It requires moving from intuition to articulation.
The part I currently struggle with the most is defining the artefact. I want to create something that genuinely excites me, something I can stay engaged with until the end of the project. Right now, many of the ideas I come up with feel logical in relation to my topic, but they don’t feel personally motivating. They make sense intellectually, but they don’t create a strong emotional response.
At the same time, I have realised that I deeply enjoy the theoretical and philosophical part of this process. Reading, writing, and thinking about abstract ideas has become something I look forward to. This surprised me, because I used to see theoretical work as something difficult. Now, it feels like a space with endless depth. There is always another idea to explore, another perspective to consider. As someone who often loses interest in things quickly, this feels significant. The fact that I remain curious and engaged gives me confidence that I am moving in a meaningful direction.
Moving forward, my focus will be on clarifying my research question and finding an artefact that connects to my interests in a more personal way. I want the outcome of this thesis to reflect not only the topic itself, but also my relationship to it. Right now, I am still in the process of defining what that will be.
