I caught a cold and was sick for the entire week. They say that catching a cold is a sign that you need to rest. I am eventually feeling much better after sleeping a lot during the week.

On Tuesday I had a supervision meeting for the first time in a month and gained some useful tips on literature reviews and methodology sections. I had initially planned to write Chapter 2 next month, but it turned out that I need to state in-depth discussions on my data collection, transcription, coding, interpretation and translation.

I borrowed three books on interviewing from the library and bought two books which are more relevant to my project. These are my supervisors’ favourites and I like them too! 1) ‘The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Methods in Health Research’, edited by Ivy Bourgeault, Robert Dingwall, and Raymond De Vries; and 2) ‘Interpreting Qualitative Data’, by David Silverman.

A psychiatrist recommended that we do not write down too many tasks on your To Do list for a day. The more tasks you have, the more you feel like your head is going to explode. It would be ideal to narrow it down to one or two agendas to concentrate on each day, if that is possible. Depending on your position, you might need to perform multiple tasks. I personally agree that it is ideal to focus on a few important things for a day, because unachieved tasks only put you under pressure.

Earlier this week, while I was unwell and lying in bed (apart from the supervision meeting and a lecture), I remembered my father and some movies he liked. In my bed, I watched his favourite movie, Back to the Future, for the first time in 20 years! The series still gives me wonderful feelings, and again I was moved by some of the messages from the stories. Throughout Parts 1, 2 and 3, the slang term ‘chicken’ was used to insult Marty. He always reacted to the provocation, and it was described as a part of his inner personality that results in trouble and ruins his life. In the last scene of Part 3, he stopped overreacting to the ‘chicken’ insult, and his future changed. That final scene of Part 3 was really moving and reassuring!

Jennifer: Dr. Brown, I brought this note back from the future and now it’s erased.
Doc: Of course it’s erased!
Jennifer: But what does that mean?
Doc: It means your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one, both of you.

Marty: Where are you going now? Back to the future?
Doc: Nope. Already been there.

My goals for Week 44:

• Finalise Information Sheets and Consent Forms for all participants
• Start contacting the participants and scheduling my observations
• Edit Chapters 1 and 3