The Heart Wants What it Wants

I’ve spent the last several years researching oral hygiene. It’s been a challenging but rewarding area of study. I am by no means done with it. My passion for the project, however, has waned.

I find myself looking at other topics and wondering what wonderful rabbit holes they will lead me down. I’ve doggedly remained on a path that I no longer find rewarding. Why? Because the work is unfinished? Because I feel I should?

My research has become lackluster and subpar. I refuse to put out work that is not my best, and so I’ve made the decision to take a break from oral hygiene.

My research doesn’t set out to prove a theory. I like to find out what life was really like. I come up with my topics by looking at a mundane object and thinking “what did they use before this was invented?” That’s how the toilet paper project started. Let me paint a picture.

No Shit, There I Was

When I started my SCA journey, I wanted to be a bookbinder. I researched papermaking, and found a book by Joseph Needham called Science and Civilisation in China. And there it was, a sentence that changed my SCA life forever: “They [the Chinese] are not careful about cleanliness, and they do not wash themselves with water after they have done their necessities, but they only wipe themselves with paper.” Well, I thought, what did everyone else use to clean themselves if they didn’t use toilet paper?

The rest, as they say, is history.

What next?

I’m not going to lie. Part of me wants to go back to the toilet paper project to see if there have been any new discoveries. Every few months, someone will send me a link to an article they’ve found. Most times, there is little new to report on – but I have made some minor adjustments to my paper from a few articles I’ve been sent.

I could go through my notes and see what else there is out there. There are cultures I didn’t research and time periods that I glossed over. It is definitely something to consider.

Or do I go in another direction? I could do bathing; hair care; women’s health; children’s health; death; the disparities in medical care between the classes; and much more. There are endless possibilities. I want to research all of it.

There’s no one research rabbit hole I’d like to go down. And I find myself in a field of many. I’m by no means done with medieval research – see the above topical options. It’s mostly a question of what itch I should scratch (wipe at?) next.

Anyone have a request from the list above?