Learning is the name of the game.

Learning Curves

“The only thing for being sad, replied Merlyn…is to learn something.  That is the only thing that never fails.  You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins… you may see the world around you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds.  There is only one thing for it then---to learn.  Learn why the world wags and what wags it.  That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.  Learning is the thing for you.”

                                                  T.H. White

                                                  The Once and Future King

          I found some books in the library last week—books about re-purposing old, found and scavenged objects.  I got so excited it kept me awake at night.  I walk my dogs in the alleys of my neighborhood to see what people have thrown out and have found everything from perfectly good fence boards and piles of ceramic tiles never taken off their paper, to an arm chair that I cleaned up and sold for real money in my booth at the antique mall.  I love taking something broken and making it into something new and different.  Everybody has a learning curve and carpentry is mine.  I have a long way to go.

          What I have discovered about life, at least for me, is that when I am busy and involved in creating something that uses both my mind and my hands, I worry less and I feel happier and more satisfied.  I’m with Merlyn---learning is the thing for me.  You may have heard that as we age we loose brain cells at an alarming rate.  The truth is that throughout life, if we fail to use our brains, we lose capacity.  And it is also true that new learning creates new pathways—regardless of age.  What causes dullness at any age is lack of stimulation, whether it is physical, in the form of exercise, or mental, in the form of learning.  We humans need stimulation to function optimally.

          There are so many ways to learn something new---books, radio, computer, person to person, experimentation.  I hope today is a ‘laboratory’ day for you. 

                                        Keeping the faith,

                                        Jane