{"id":1549,"date":"2013-08-04T20:21:26","date_gmt":"2013-08-05T00:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/?p=1549"},"modified":"2013-08-04T20:21:26","modified_gmt":"2013-08-05T00:21:26","slug":"a-lifelong-learner-the-hard-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/2013\/08\/04\/a-lifelong-learner-the-hard-way\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lifelong Learner the Hard Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sliky1-300x200\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The hard way isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing.\u00a0 In my family it\u2019s known as slinky syndrome.\u00a0 I was that kid that had to see how the slinky worked. Have you ever tried to figure out how a slinky works, it\u2019s not pretty you\u2019ll need another one after you make a mess.\u00a0 But the clue in the mess comes down to curiosity.\u00a0 I believe it\u2019s one of the most important characteristics of a lifelong learner.\u00a0 We are curious, we want to know, we want books around us, we trade in preconceived notions, we start things, and we fail.\u00a0 Himself used to tell me I never had enough input.\u00a0 He used to chant it sometimes when I would be stuck in a book, more input more input.\u00a0 I\u2019m ok with that but books aren\u2019t the only place I learn.<\/p>\n

My senior year in high school I was working full time.\u00a0 My classes ended at 11am and I was in work from noon until eight at night.\u00a0 I was a teller at a bank, making good money and after graduation when some were going off to college I was working.\u00a0 It was a different time, a high school diploma meant something more then.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the bank and I parted ways and I found myself on unemployment.\u00a0 Yet another learning experience but I used the time to go to secretarial school through the state.\u00a0 Typing and steno opened up a whole new world for me, I know steno doesn\u2019t exist anymore but it was a life saver.\u00a0 Every secretarial position I took became a treasure trove of new ideas, new business experiences, I became a sponge.\u00a0 The funny thing about a sponge is its capacity is limited it can\u2019t continue to hold \u00a0it all.<\/p>\n

I became practiced at the art of purging.\u00a0 This is yet another characteristic of a lifelong learner. We can let go of stale information, we can embrace technology, we can create new paths, and we can defy convention if only in small ways.<\/p>\n

I did eventually go to college inspired by a man I worked with.\u00a0 His name is Rawleigh Tremain and he is that wonderful blend of intelligence, good humor and generosity.\u00a0 Never once with my lack of formal education did he ever make me feel less.\u00a0 He inspired me to want to know what he knew.\u00a0 Several years ago I was able to reconnect with him through the power of technology.\u00a0 He remains on the periphery of my life and I remain ever grateful.\u00a0 I have my bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees and couldn\u2019t be more proud of having graduated with honors in my forties.<\/p>\n

Lately, I\u2019ve been chasing more creative learning.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always known that I am a right brained person but over the years I never found the right combination for a creative life.\u00a0 I think I\u2019m a rare bird that has too much linear thinking combined with lack of bohemian temperament.\u00a0 My talents lie in process and development\u2026duh\u2026 the ability to see things that others can\u2019t, the solution being blatantly obvious is a creative talent.\u00a0 Fine but I\u2019ve always wanted to be an artist.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had my camera for a long time.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been good at it and I\u2019ve gotten tired of it.\u00a0 Finally I put it down when life got in the way.\u00a0 So when life gets in the way I go to plan B.\u00a0 The thing about plan B is if you choose it yourself rather than have it forced on you it\u2019s encouraging, and stimulating, and inspirational.\u00a0 Plan B put me on Stowe Lane, prompted me to begin my blog, I am in learning overload again.\u00a0 I believe creativity has found me.\u00a0 I believe this because my friend David let me know that he was glad I was taking on this project.\u00a0 Project.\u00a0 That is the catch phrase of all those wonderfully creative people out there making their personal form of art.\u00a0 That affirmation will sustain me indefinitely and I am grateful that amazingly creative David bestowed it on me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve picked up my camera again with the help of Andrea Scher of Super Hero Life and Seth Casteel of Underwater Dogs fame.\u00a0 I am learning from their unconventional approach to life and teaching.\u00a0 My courses are online, shared with others through forums, and left to their generous critiques.\u00a0 There are seminars shared with like-minded people.\u00a0 There are morning coffee and learn sessions at local retailers.\u00a0 All these new ways of learning and connecting are creatively assembled by a battalion of young and fresh and generous minds.<\/p>\n

Being a lifelong learner means making education a priority.\u00a0 Lifelong insinuates that it is ongoing, for that you\u2019ve got to be motivated, self-motivated, and you\u2019ve got to use what you learn or purge it.\u00a0 Surround yourself with the tools of learning, books, people, technology, vision, and curiosity.\u00a0 Make it habitual, become addicted to it and share what you\u2019ve learned and the excitement it brings you.\u00a0 With all the new research on brain functioning and longevity the chances are you won\u2019t be alone in your pursuit.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just an FYI, \u201ca lifelong learner the hard way\u201d\u00a0 is my story in six words.\u00a0 The six word memoir project was launched by Smith Magazine in 2005??, maybe?\u00a0 Not important, what is important is they believe everyone has a story and the six word project has morphed into a phenomenon.\u00a0 I could read them all day, some of them are poignant, some hilarious, some heartbreaking kind of like PostSecret without the post cards but that will be another post for another time.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.smithmag.net\/sixwords\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Check it out, write your own memoir in six words.\u00a0 I guarantee you\u2019ll find it interesting, difficult and enlightening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hard way isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing.\u00a0 In my family it\u2019s known as slinky syndrome.\u00a0 I was that kid that had to see how the slinky worked. Have you ever tried to figure out how a slinky works, it\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[285,288,283,289,284,219,256,287,286],"class_list":["post-1549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pause-points","tag-andrea-scher","tag-creative-life","tag-curiosity","tag-education","tag-information-overload","tag-lifelong-learner","tag-seth-casteel","tag-six-word-memoir-project","tag-smith-magazine"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p27hQ5-oZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1549"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1553,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549\/revisions\/1553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}