Learning to learn again
I believe I've waited long enough, where do I begin?
Learning to learn is a weird statement.
But I'll keep it.
No, we won't discuss the neuroscience of learning.
But I feel like we've been conditioned to be passive consumers. Scrolling endlessly on our phones for the next dopamine hit, watching short video after short video, forgetting what we watched 3 seconds after. We're built to become Dory.
When we do have the time and energy to properly learn, we tend to seek mastery in our abilities and skills. So much so that we forget to learn new things outside of it.
And that's what I want to talk about today.
Learning new, different things.
Everything new that we learn tends to be to level up our game, to advance in a race made up by a society that values competition. We can't fall behind.
But, what if we can value being a beginner too?
We've discussed being a beginner in my Hobbies post and in my Learning Animation post, but I'd like to dedicate a full post to this topic.
And a disclaimer here, learning is always welcome. The ultimate antidote against brainrot. This post is about being a beginner.
Another disclaimer: this post is about my perception, and I reserve the right to change my mind on anything :)
I may be wrong, but being a jack of all trades isn't as bad as people make it out to be.
Even the saying is usually said incompletely to give out the sensation of it being a negative thing. The full thing goes like this:
A jack of all trades is a master of none
but oftentimes better than a master of one.
What's wrong with being no master of anything? Knowing a little bit about a large range of things is often more resourceful than mastering one thing, in my opinion.
I didn't find one single author for this saying, so it's an easy phrase to get distorted. But my point isn't this saying.
What I'd like to express in this very unstructured stream-of-consciousness-esque post is that I believe we are allowed to have more interests and explore them as we please.
I think the idea of mastering something is often intertwined with the capitalist logic of being “the best” at something, of being “the name” of a field, “the authority” of a topic, so you can sell your knowledge on it.
Which is fair, not a problem, but when we close ourselves off to other experiences, not even allowing ourselves to develop other interests, that can get messy real fast. (hi, burnout)
I tend to always look back at childhood for reference. Our child brain is hungry to absorb the world and learn as much as possible. Everything is shiny and magical, and we're easily impressed. As we grow up, we lose this trait.
School is, of course, a good way for diverse learning, but personally, I hated it. I wanted to learn things inside my interests, not algebra. But fine, not gonna get into that now.
I feel like adult life weeds out that part of our brain that is used to learning different topics, even if not in our interest. What should be a good thing that we're now adults and can choose to learn about the things we like, becomes this unappealing routine of doing the same things every day.
You kind of either improve the skills you need for work or are stuck in that loop.
This system fucking sucks.
Speaking from the point of view of an autistic + adhd woman, I can understand both special interests (with hyperfocus to boot) and switching from one interest to another because dopamine ran out on the last hobby.
Art has been a special interest of mine since I can remember. It was just something I liked to do, a hobby, and then it became my work. Before I settled for illustration, I experimented with many other fields of visual arts: photography, graphic design, 3D, animation, digital painting, oil painting, etc.
Once I decided I had to master my craft, I hyperfocused on it and didn't allow myself to explore other interests of mine. I didn't even let myself contemplate other possibilities. And that ended up making me sick - and a lot less effective in my art.
In the arts, I feel like we have many transferable skills from one field to another, but I don't think it should stop there. Things completely outside illustration inform my work in a way that is unique and sometimes unexpected. And that makes my work richer in meaning, details, and references, therefore more valuable (hopefully).
Gaudí came to mind. I'm still fresh out of the Gaudí immersion I've recently had in Barcelona (will be making a post about it), so his work popped out in my head while writing this.
Antoni Gaudí referenced nature in every one of his works. Not nature in a general, vague way, no. He took inspiration directly from specific things in nature, like vines, mushrooms, turtles, spirals, tree branches, leaves, insect wings, corals, pine cones, corn, the marks the waves leave in the sand.
His work is so unique because he had this incessant interest in nature and explored it in his architectural work in a way that many people consider genius.
I'm making a point on being a jack of all trades, but Gaudí and many other well-respected professionals were/are masters of their craft.
That doesn't invalidate my argument, and I'll tell you why.
I'm not arguing against mastery, and in favor of skipping from interest to interest without ever diving deep into any of them. Not at all. I've done this already (hi, adhd), and it doesn't feel good either. I'm very pro mastering your craft.
But I believe there's more to it.
I'm suggesting a third path: a balance between mastery and interest exploration.
My questions about the concept of mastery.
I understand the reasons we want to master a craft. It may be for pleasure, the love of the process, money, fame, a career, self-development, the feeling of accomplishment, reaching milestones, and feeling like you're moving forward. Developing. Progress.
Getting good at something feels good. Gives us confidence. We know our shit.
We understand it. We live and breathe it.
Becoming a master at something must be a great feeling - when we are aware of it. I reckon not all masters know they are masters. Or feel like one. The process of “getting there” is never-ending, so is it even possible to master something? Do we know when we get there? Is mastery just a concept? Is it a hamster wheel kind of situation?
Or maybe it's like that only for the imposter syndrome folks like me.
And I also understand the shiny-object-syndromesque way of life of a jack of all trades. I understand the joy of knowing how to do a whole range of things, even when they're random and don't seem to connect. Some learned skill will come in handy, and other skills are transferable.
I think we should explore everything this life has to offer while we're here. Everything that calls to us is a potential path to follow. A potential source of joy.
It can be overwhelming, but we are multidimensional. We can learn multiple diverse things and still master a craft or two, why not? Why do we have to squeeze ourselves inside boxes too small for us?
We don't.
Exploring interests really converses with having hobbies. But also demands that we become beginners.
When you're used to being advanced in a skill, comfortable in your work, and challenged only for progress, being a total beginner on something may feel strange. Uncomfortable. Like starting all over.
I don't always have the patience for that. Sometimes struggling with the basics pisses me off. And that's ok. That's part of the process of learning from scratch.
Allowing ourselves to be beginners feels vulnerable. It may bring up some shit that we've buried inside from childhood. It may bring up a hidden fear of not being “there” in life, where you “should” be by now.
Subconscious beliefs and fears will speak through the silliest things, not just big, serious circumstances.
These unconscious things could stay buried and bother you again some other time, or you can decide to deal with them now, while you pick up a new set of skills. While you have fun, cheer on your peers, and get cheered on for the most basic achievements.
You'll feel like a kid. And that's the point. That is the greatest thing you can do for your inner child as an adult.
Let them play!
Afterthoughts:
In a world of AI trying to convince us we're doomed, that our fate is inevitable, learning new skills is a form of resistance. I think that either focusing on mastering your craft or learning a variety of things will help keep your brain healthy and make you a more well-rounded person and/or artist.
And it's a clear message to these AI-pushing tech bros that we reject it. It's a message that we continue to prioritize our brains, our own intelligence.
That the future is human.
I don't know what this post was… it kind of just came out. No planning, no structure.
I hope it didn't come out too scattered or confusing.
The images I added are from stuff I picked up from the pandemic to now. I don't keep doing all of them, but I just wanted to show you the variety. There's more, but I couldn't find the photos. Oh well. You get the gist.
About me
Hi, I’m Danielle - an illustrator, artist, and certified hypnotherapist. But more than that, I’m endlessly curious about the inner and outer world, and deeply in love with emotions, creativity, and the quiet power of making things with our hands.
I believe creating is a form of listening: to ourselves, to each other, and to what wants to be born through us.
The things I create are woven with this intention: to reimagine and gently revolutionize the way we relate to our inner and outer worlds.
Here are the services I offer:
Commissions
Simple Tarot Reading
Hypnotarot
Hypnosis Recording