On Learning

I feel like I have an endless list of things I wish I knew more about. There are a few people who, when I think about the knowledge they have on certain topics, and the experience they have on top of that, I just wish I could cut open my skull and have them pour their brains into mine. That sounds so gross. But you know what I mean.

I love all things self-help. I love to learn about relationships and parenting, and methods, techniques, and strategies to make those relationships healthier and more functional. For that I follow @knowhowmomtips on Instagram, a woman I deeply admire for her strength, knowledge, and experience. I seriously wish I could have her brain poured into mine.

I love to hear about astrology and patterns that people experience. I’m fascinated when people mention Mercury in retrograde, and the full moon, and all the things that I have no idea about. I would love if my friend Kevin Goldberg could just instantly upload his knowledge into my brain.

Astronomy is also amazing. I love to watch the videos at observatories about galaxies and the universe. It’s awe-inspiring to see the beauty of it all and to know how small we are in relation to everything that exists.

I love, love, love any kind of social studies. I love to learn things about birth order, personality types, nature vs. nurture, and any other factors that make us who we are. I’m fascinated by the way we integrate our past experiences, and how those affect the way we respond or react. I’d love to know more about socioeconomics and all the complexities of why two people can come from a similar background (family, location, economy-wise) but end up so, so different. I would love to have the perspective of my grandma or grandpa, having witnessed so much societal change over so many decades, and having the understanding they have.

I just love to know why people are the way they are, and I love to be able to help them in ways that work best for them. I think having self-knowledge is so important in our lives, in improving ourselves, and in figuring out strategies to help us be successful. I’m obsessed with all of this kind of learning.

I love to learn about WWII. Anything Holocaust related especially is heartbreaking and interesting to me. I love to read Holocaust memoirs and visit museums about the Holocaust or WWII. Dunkirk fascinated me. I love any stories of the leaders from that time; I loved The Darkest Hour (about Winston Churchill), The Catcher was a Spy (about Moe Berg), and The King’s Speech (about King George VI), plus just about any other WWII movie I've seen.

I actually like to learn about people’s lives in general. I love memoirs and autobiographies, serious ones and funny ones, famous people and ordinary people. I’ve always just been drawn to reality and realistic stories.

I would like to learn how to do pottery; I’ve never taken a ceramics class.

I would love to do a paint night, like a paint by numbers class. I’m drawn to the creative process because I can’t imagine just sitting down to paint an image in my head, or to write a piano song based on how I feel. I’ve never been compelled to do anything like that, so creative people are so interesting to me.

I wish I could instantly download car mechanic skills. I don’t want to do the work to learn it, especially because I hate getting dirty, but I’d love to know all of that, if for no other reason than to not get suckered by car mechanics for being a woman.

I want to learn archery. I think it’s so cool. They had archery at Padua High in 10 Things I Hate About You. I guess I should’ve gone to a rich kids’ school.

I’d love to try rock climbing (mostly just in a climbing gym), take swimming lessons (for athletic strategy; I’m a terrible swimmer for exercise), and learn to water ski. I also would like to know how to surf, and how to stand up paddleboard. Scuba diving would be neat, but the thought gives me terrible anxiety.

I’ve never built a fire and definitely couldn’t survive the wilderness. That would be helpful.

Photography would be a cool skill to have. Who doesn’t want to take pretty pictures?

I need to learn how to play Chess. I feel like it would help my brain and be a good place to focus some energy.

I’ve dabbled in ukulele and could devote more time to playing that cute little thing.

I also would like to learn to shoot a gun, at any kind of target (that’s not alive).

I want to learn basic massage therapy. Actually, a couple’s situation would be legit, so we know how to actually help each other when back or neck pain is an issue, which it always is for me.

I have a strange fascination with quantum energy. The idea that plants can grow faster, and that ice can create beautiful or hideous patterns based on the words that are spoken, is amazing to me. It really makes you think about the energy you put out there. Words are powerful, and I wish more people recognized that. But just the idea that there is unseen energy in everything and everyone, and the idea that it can be harnessed somehow, is so amazing to me.

On that note, I love the idea of meditation. I’ve always been awful at it, but I appreciate its benefits and admire the people who do it regularly and use it to balance their lives and clear their minds and to connect with the energy that abounds.

I have a desire to visit different churches and learn about different faiths. Where people find truth and solace is really interesting to me.

There are a few languages I wish I could speak, but again sort of lack the real desire to commit the time and energy right now. But Rosetta Stone is looking more affordable these days!

It’s weird the things that interest us. I have no interest in learning about electricity, although I appreciate that it is there and marvel at how it works. I’m not terribly interested in video games, like, at all. I understand and appreciate the benefits of yoga, but honestly the fire isn’t in me to pursue it more regularly, and I wish it were!

If only I had unlimited time, energy, and resources. There’s so much to be learned and to be done. I’m grateful I at least have the opportunity to make plans to do these things. I’m grateful to have a passionate and open heart to want to learn so many things. Here’s to a lifetime of learning!