Not The Only One

Just seen a friend for coffee who is at the opposite end of the doctoral spectrum to me and about to submit her thesis.  Interestingly, we still share an awful lot of the same concerns. She told me that when she is asked how things are going, she finds that her answer is no more advanced or technical than when she started.   Secondly, she expressed something I have often felt that it is very hard to explain to those outside of the PhD circle (and even to those who have completed it) what it feels like to go through this deeply personal and academic period of growth.  So, some relief that I'm not going mad.  Or at least, not the only one going mad.