The "Big D"

One of my friends is tearing her hair out trying to get her dissertation written. She has tried to seclude herself, limit contact with other people, go special places to write, and try to avoid taking on new responsibilities. In every case, she has found some way to do something more interesting and immediately rewarding. She continues to fret about never getting "The Big D" written.
My sister is facing this right now with her dissertation as well. She wryly calls her product "...that dadburned D." A person misses out on so much when the work goes slowly and involves tedious revisions. It is so hard to become reclusive just to be able to think clearly enough to write. Such a solitary process is very trying for extroverted people who flourish in the swirling chaos of crowds of people (any clue what that comment makes me?)
I recall writing my dissertation: 20 minutes of writing, 10 minutes of pounding the daylights out of the piano with Rachmaninoff preludes. 20 minutes more of writing, 10 minutes talking to someone on the phone. 20 minutes of writing and 10 minutes of Bach two-part inventions. Sometimes it was 20 minutes of writing, 20 minutes of cleaning cupboards or 20 minutes of walking around the block. It was the strangest mix of activities I think I've ever experienced. But I had to be in constant motion just to tolerate the monotony of the task.
There are "Big D's" in everyone's life at some point. It might not be a literary work, but could be some odious task or responsibility that must be fulfilled. As we look to accomplish the big things, perhaps it is well to consider how to stay balanced and integrated with other people. For this is why we write, why we aspire and why we forge ahead: to gain something relationally.
So my hope for you, the reader, is that you will find the outlets you need, the support you long for, and the variety that makes your heart sing while you stretch ahead for your Big D, whatever that may be for you.