Life-Long Learning: How to Gain Super Powers
I knitted a hat last night. I used both blue yarn and a white yarn shot through with silvery thread. When I was finished knitting, my sister walked me through the steps for putting a pom-pom on top of it. It wasn’t my first hat, but it was my first pom-pom. As it turns out, pom-poms are pretty easy-peasy.
I always feel a sense of accomplishment when a knitting project is done. I learned to knit a couple of months ago, and I’m still proud of myself. I’m now a person who knits — who would have ever thought such a thing would happen? (Especially after I failed to learn crochet, twice).
Last night, as I was trying to sleep, my mind decided instead to reflect on knowledge acquisition — such as learning to knit — and how it changes a person ever-so-slightly. Any time I learn a new skill — especially if it’s something I teach myself — that skill becomes a part of who I am. It’s like having a super power. Oh, you think I’m just an ordinary-looking woman? Well, let me tell you: I can knit. I can make soap out of beer. I can split a file in SPSS and run descriptives and frequencies for only the data that have a certain variable. I can make a peanut-ginger sauce. I can trim a goat’s hooves.
The ability to learn things on our own is empowering. All women should make friends with YouTube so they can add to their stores of knowledge. As I was trying so hard to turn off my thoughts last night, my brain conjured an image of learning — it’s like our bodies are a jar, and each new skill or area of expertise is a marble that we add to it. Eventually, our jar becomes full of colorful marbles, and no two jars have the exact same configuration. Knowledge makes us beautiful and unique.
I don’t recall feeling this way when I was in school. Maybe I took learning for granted because I was a student — I was supposed to be learning. Learning was my job. Truthfully, I was bored until I got to college, when the pace picked up and I could finally feel myself being challenged. But even then, I didn’t feel empowered by it. It was just something I had to do to pass my classes, get good grades, earn a degree, and get a job. It wasn’t about the knowledge itself. The knowledge was a means to an end.
For years, I’ve heard people talk about the value of being a life-long learner. And I would nod my head and agree with them. But I don’t think I fully applied that label to myself until recently. Maybe it’s because I now have to be more intentional about learning. Not only do I have to work a little harder to remember things, but I also have to seek out opportunities to learn. Honestly, it makes me value it more. What will I teach myself next?
