It always disturbs me when I hear people talk like learning is confined to school.
I mean, what? Are we completely incapable of self-education?
Obviously we aren’t, because millions of us watch YouTube videos to learn how to fix a clogged drain, or we read blogs to learn how to make a better pie crust. That is learning. It is self-education, and when we are educating ourselves – always learning new things – then we are always growing and changing and challenging ourselves and others through the knowledge we obtain.
The older I get, the more I realize I don’t know, and the more I feel inspired to study and learn new things. I think the beginning of a new year is a great time to stop and think of some new areas where I’d like to do some learning.
Maybe you’d like to do the same, but you don’t know where to begin. Let me share some of the ideas I have for myself, and maybe it’ll provide you with a little inspiration all your own…
I want to learn more about native plants and wildcrafting.
Last year I started learning about foraging, and it was truly one of the most fun and interesting hobbies I have taken on in years. I began discovering amazing things right in my own backyard, and I found ways to use native plants both in my cooking and in basic medicinal ointments and tinctures.
This is a newer area of interest for me and I find myself loving it. My goal for this year is to continue educating myself on the subject, familiarizing myself with more native plants and finding more beneficial ways to use them.
A Christmas gift from my daughter. Obviously she knows me well…
I want to learn how to create and maintain a raised bed herb garden.
I’ve never had a raised bed garden. People tell me it’s not complicated to build one, and I want to put their word to the test!
I’ve tried growing herbs in pots and, with the exception of rosemary, I’ve never had tremendous success. I would love to have a kitchen and medicinal herb garden that I could draw from all summer, with plenty leftover to dry for later use.
For whatever reason, growing herbs has been a challenge for me. This year I want to learn how to do it well!
I want to learn how to navigate by the stars.
Does that sound crazy to you, especially in a day when everyone has a smartphone in their pocket that can help them navigate almost anywhere in the world?
I find myself marveling at the fact that people of the past – people we would consider primitive and even ignorant by today’s standards – knew how to do things most of us can’t do today. Their knowledge and skills are being lost to us, and while I love technology and take advantage of it as often as I can, sometimes I feel like I owe it to myself to discover some of their knowledge.
This book is definitely some of the interest in the stars. Fascinating read…
The truth is, the stars and star patterns always seemed very complicated to me, and so I never took a lot of interest in the night sky, outside of its obvious aesthetic qualities. But I just recently learned that I already know enough to begin basic navigation via the stars. Now I want to learn more!
I want to learn more about video and possibly vlogging.
I hate video of myself. Hate it.
And yet I know video is so often the way people choose to learn now. I prefer the written word to video almost always, but we live in an incredibly audiovisual world. Video adds ease and convenience to learning. I don’t necessarily like it, but I’m a fool to ignore it! If video helps me build an audience and connect with readers in new, more efficient ways, then I need to start learning how to do it, even if my early efforts are less-than-perfect.
Sigh. I can’t say I’m entirely stoked about learning in this area, but… I’m trying to grow and challenge myself here, right?
I want to learn more about making my own sodas.
Condemn me all you want, you water drinkers, but I love soda. It’s not just the flavor I love, but the combination of flavor and carbonation. While I can and do drink water much of the time, if given a choice and allowed to choose what I want over what I need, I would always, ALWAYS choose soda.
But I know sodas are loaded with sugar and artificial colors and flavorings. They are terrible for me, no matter how much I enjoy drinking them!
I had dabbled a little in soda-making even before our family visited Waco, Texas and the Dr. Pepper Museum back in November. (Still need to blog about that little trip!) But what I learned there definitely inspired me to start learning more! When we came home, I started experimenting with making my own fruit syrups to stir into club soda, with some pretty positive results. Then just after Christmas I discovered a SodaStream machine on clearance at my local grocery story.
And, oh, my! The possibilities!
I’m really not interested in using all the SodaStream mixes, but I love being able to turn my own tap water into carbonated water, then mixing in homemade fruit syrups and flavorings with far less sugar and without all the yucky additives.
I’m still exploring new creations here, but I’m having fun trying, and I want the learning to continue!
Personally, my favorite way to learn is by reading. I think I retain things best that way. But reading is hardly the only way to learn! I can draw so much from written words, videos, or podcasts. All of them are valuable means of self-education.
So what would you like to learn this year? Visit your local library, do a Google search, or throw a question out to friends and family for someone who can teach you more, and let the learning begin!
