Research

THOUGHTFUL WORD:

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”

(Zora Neale Hurston)

            Today the word I am running hand in hand with is research.

            According to the Bing Dictionary (yep bing search engine has a dictionary) research is: “Organized study: methodical investigation into a subject in order to discover facts, to establish or revise a theory, or to develop a plan of action based on the facts discovered or to study something methodically: to carry out research into a subject.

            If you look up research on Wikipedia it will tell you that it is the “systematic undertaking to increase stock of knowledge”.

            Sometimes I wonder how we survived before computers.  To do what I am doing these days would take more daylight than I have in the library, in magazines, in newspapers or on the phone to gather the information for which I am trying to gather.

            Instead all I have to do in this day telecommunications is punch in a name, term, sentence, question or whatever into a search engine and end up with more opportunities for an answer than I would be able to cover.

            As I run down the path of desire to learn so much about my COPD and Heart condition, I find how easily a day can spin out of control and that time can hit wrap speed while I devour information about both.

            It is the same with giving my gift of writing an open doorway into my daily routine.  Sometimes there is so much information out there it can overwhelm me, like the mighty Mississippi during a flood, I sometimes feel like I can drown in overflowing river of information.

            So having computers and the ease of searching for knowledge can literally drown our mind and energy with information about basically anything we can think of.

            As for my health issues, I made that easy.  Signing up for activity from just a couple of websites like www.copdfoundation.com and www.lung.org (American Lung Association) has given me enough of a map to lead my trip for knowledge in many directions.

            As for my writing I started to make a list of writing based websites that would include the opportunity to submit work and stopped at 55.  Sadly I know that these do not include websites for magazines, book publishers and newspapers.

            Learning new writing concepts like SEO (search engine optimization) has been a chore of humility.

            So many opportunities, which path do I travel. 

            After many hours looking at, reading, evaluating, checking reviews and just plain praying, I have finally started to devote leaps of faith with a few of these writing internet colonies.

            My brain is worn out, my fingers are getting numb and I am on my second pair of reading glasses – but the motor has been put into 2nd gear and the first deliveries have been made, now to wait for tomorrow and see if any roadblocks are planted solid in my way.

            I can see now that my next word to work on will probably be patience as I wait for results of my writing submissions, as I wait for more information to become a COPD advocate, as I wait and wait…..nope I do not think so.

            Patience I do believe is going to be wrestled to the ground, wrapped in some rope (hopefully the emotion activists won’t sue me) and placed in the corner while I keeping jogging down the path of tomorrow, hand in hand with research.

READY READS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_DTZGtaELo&feature=related

http://www.reverendfun.com/index.php?date=20130325