Learning Without Limits
Not quite in the academic sense, though that too, sometimes.
I wasn’t anywhere near confident about my cooking abilities until my mid-20s. I often doubted whether I’d ever become a decent cook, especially after a proper (though not entirely warranted) lambasting from my high school Food and Nutrition teacher. Long story short: I ended up switching to Art. It was equal parts a passionate escape and a strategic move to avoid becoming a repeat offender. It’s easier to laugh about the whole debacle now.
I owe YouTube and Google big time for the much-needed practical guidance. These days, I’ve added Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and podcasts to my list of go-to resources, alongside asking those who are better informed about the things I want to learn.
But here’s the point I’m hoping to make: while it’s easy to get caught up in the difficult or “ugly” parts of adulting, one of the most beautiful aspects is being able to immerse yourself in the process of learning, and unlearning. It feels amazing to become aware of something in a new light, and even more so to be able to share that knowledge with others or use it to improve your own life, or theirs.
Think about it. There’s an inexhaustible list of things you can explore and learn. As an adult, you get to figure out what works for you, whether it’s a specific exercise routine, a new skill you want to pick up, or a course you’d like to take. You get to discover what you genuinely enjoy in terms of food, music, books, or cinema, without simply following the crowd. You might learn a new language (maybe even take up the challenge of sign language), polish your email etiquette, or find out how best to care for your specific skin and hair type.
There’s always something new to grasp: how to do something more effectively, how to make a new dish, or give an old one a twist. You can learn how to show up better in your personal and or professional relationships. You can figure out how to budget and save, how to express yourself more clearly, how to present yourself better, or more adventurously, how to play an instrument. Not only that, but you could also learn responsibility and patience by caring for a plant or a pet. The list of how-to’s is truly endless.
Just a few days ago, I found myself in a situation that reminded me how helpful it is to stay open to learning. I needed to be patient and understanding about something that, honestly, could’ve really frustrated me. But thanks to a submission I’d read a while back (written to a social media agony aunt) I had some idea of how to respond thoughtfully in that moment, without losing my cool. Since then, I’ve been reflecting on what often feels overlooked: the privilege of being able to learn, because it makes so much figureoutable.