91×ÔÅÄ

I’m halfway through my PhD and my supervisor has very kindly reminded me to pace myself, be kind to myself – the PhD road is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s also halfway through 2020 which has already experienced bushfires, a pandemic, and toilet paper hoarding. It’s starting to feel like an uphill hike at this point. So, it was really consoling to have caught up with my cohort over social media. We encouraged each other – ‘push on, we can do this’, we all said to each other. It’s very easy to feel panicky and anxious with everything going on in the world at the moment, while also trying to complete a research degree during uncertain times. As a bit of fun, while also trying to provide a place for amity, here are some of the songs or lyrics that described their PhD journey. What would yours be?

• Love hurts – Gladys Knight
• For whom the bell tolls – Metallica
• Good riddance – Green Day
• Hold on – Wilson Phillips
• Every day is a winding road – Sheryl Crow
• Work song – Nina Simone
• Highway to hell – ACDC
• I wrote my way out – the Hamilton Mixtape
• Every day I love you less and less – Kaiser Chiefs
• Stronger – Kelly Clarkson
• Numb – Linkin Park
• SOS - ABBA
• Brighter days – Sigala ft. Paul Jane
• Under pressure – Queen and Bowie
• Can’t get no satisfaction – the Rolling Stones
• Gotta get through this – Daniel Bedingfield
• Staying alive – Bee Gees
• Money for nothing – Dire Straits

The road to changing the world is never-ending – pace yourself.Rupi Kaur