Make it this.

"Take your intellectual life and make it this; immerse yourself, focus. And see what happens."

And so I am. I met with one of my mentors the other day-- I needed help and a push in the right direction; make myself a timeline and write and write. Read, too. Baby-stepping through case studies and nonfiction, old newspapers and interviews; wishing I was wearing galoshes as I wade knee-deep in history; filling up pages in my composition book slowly yet steadily-- reminding myself that the tortoise was the winner in that age-old tale.

Now I have the swimming pool wall from which to push off. Do I know how to swim? No. But I can tread water for as long as I can; maybe I'll even make it to the other side, towards the deep end.