Submitted

I submitted my first paper to an actual journal today. Feels a little like a celebration is in order. Feels a little like I should wait to celebrate until I hear back from the journal. I might hedge my bets because regardless of the outcome of the editorial process that is about to unfold, this point in time deserves a little moment of pause. I submitted an academic paper to an academic journal today.

The paper in question has been in progress for almost three years and is nothing resembling the paper I started writing. It represents a process of learning, collaboration and debate that I could not have predicted when I started. It says something different than I set out to say, something much smaller, but perhaps also larger than I have any experience to appreciate. It was hard to write. I had to step away from it many times to be renewed and reinvigorated to continue the work of creating it. It is not perfect.

But it was time to let it go. Let it go. And see if it has legs.

Today, I submitted my first paper to an academic journal.