I probably went way too far down the rabbit hole in my essays. I ended up writing my thesis on how Death is Represented in Art, and how we react to it. I read so widely for that, that I ended up reading nursing textbooks on dealing with death and dying, as well as stuff about the actual artists I was referencing in my own work and text.
I have a chapter published somewhere on HIVE, (it was steem when I published) - but its easier to find on my website. The linked chapter is about how monuments can sometimes become more meaningful through their decay.
As long as you have passion for that, it's cool dig even in uncommon directions
That thesis is pretty long, it must have taken a while to make it
It was a full year of research, that's just one chapter - whole thing was a struggle to get down to 10k words.
I could have gone on to get a PHD, but by that point I was sick of academic life.
I get you, after 5 years and half of university I couldn't stand it anymore