I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about tonight. Then, I was watching a TV commercial, and it came to me. I was watching a commercial about child geniuses. The young boy on the commercial was talking about his curiosity and how he loves to learn new things and investigate.
I then started thinking about that a little. Why do we, oftentimes, as adults, stop being curious? I know that I used to love to investigate things…to learn things. But, as I got older, learning turned into more of an exercise…a job…than the fun that it used to be. Don't get me wrong. I do love to learn, and when I'm fully engaged in a topic, I can spend hours without realizing it. But it just takes so much effort to get into something if it's not immediate. It's like sitting down to learn is more than I can handle sometimes.
I think back to my school system. I'm not going to say that it was all hard work without any entertainment, but it was, as most schools are, set up to force you to learn. Force you to remember. Force you to repeat what you've learned. My favorite teachers were different. They taught in a way that made you really think and gave you the chance to analyze things in your own way. Those were the classes that I enjoyed; those were the classes that expanded my mind. But, I'm not sure that there were enough of them for me. And, in return, learning became a chore. Something that you had to get past to get to the fun part of the day.
I don't blame my teachers. I think, looking back on it, it took a lot more effort for those certain teachers to really push the learning experience into that other realm. Not everyone has that kind of energy. Perhaps not everyone even has that skill. I'm not sure how good I'd be at rallying young minds to feel excited about learning. But, I think school can have a negative effect on a life-long love of learning if we're not careful.
College opened my mind more. I was able to take (mostly) classes that I enjoyed. I was able to choose from nearly any subject in the world to study. And yet, there was a part of me that felt it wasn't fun simply because it was a win or lose situation. You either learned what you needed to in order to move on, or you just wasted a lot of money. And money wasn't something that my family ever had a lot of. The work of learning (rather than the fun of curiosity) simply took precedence in order to survive. There was very little time to have any childhood curiosity carry through in a panic-less way. Work had to be done, and then more work had to be done. And you had to succeed…failure would cost too much.
And, in my life, that's what happened. Curiosity was the "fun" that had to be sacrificed in order to do the work…in order to survive. And, tonight, while watching that commercial, it sparked something in me. My life is not simple now, but as things grow and start to take on a bit of their own life with the store, there might be time for me to take more time to be curious. It might be time to realize that learning isn't work anymore. It might be time to realize that learning (the work) and curiosity (the fun) can be the same thing.
What about you? Have you had a similar experience? Has life changed your curiosity? I'd like to hear your experiences. Especially from those who have experience opposite of mine…of those who have kept their curiosity alive through the years; how have you managed to do it?
Thank you again for reading tonight!
I then started thinking about that a little. Why do we, oftentimes, as adults, stop being curious? I know that I used to love to investigate things…to learn things. But, as I got older, learning turned into more of an exercise…a job…than the fun that it used to be. Don't get me wrong. I do love to learn, and when I'm fully engaged in a topic, I can spend hours without realizing it. But it just takes so much effort to get into something if it's not immediate. It's like sitting down to learn is more than I can handle sometimes.
I think back to my school system. I'm not going to say that it was all hard work without any entertainment, but it was, as most schools are, set up to force you to learn. Force you to remember. Force you to repeat what you've learned. My favorite teachers were different. They taught in a way that made you really think and gave you the chance to analyze things in your own way. Those were the classes that I enjoyed; those were the classes that expanded my mind. But, I'm not sure that there were enough of them for me. And, in return, learning became a chore. Something that you had to get past to get to the fun part of the day.
I don't blame my teachers. I think, looking back on it, it took a lot more effort for those certain teachers to really push the learning experience into that other realm. Not everyone has that kind of energy. Perhaps not everyone even has that skill. I'm not sure how good I'd be at rallying young minds to feel excited about learning. But, I think school can have a negative effect on a life-long love of learning if we're not careful.
College opened my mind more. I was able to take (mostly) classes that I enjoyed. I was able to choose from nearly any subject in the world to study. And yet, there was a part of me that felt it wasn't fun simply because it was a win or lose situation. You either learned what you needed to in order to move on, or you just wasted a lot of money. And money wasn't something that my family ever had a lot of. The work of learning (rather than the fun of curiosity) simply took precedence in order to survive. There was very little time to have any childhood curiosity carry through in a panic-less way. Work had to be done, and then more work had to be done. And you had to succeed…failure would cost too much.
And, in my life, that's what happened. Curiosity was the "fun" that had to be sacrificed in order to do the work…in order to survive. And, tonight, while watching that commercial, it sparked something in me. My life is not simple now, but as things grow and start to take on a bit of their own life with the store, there might be time for me to take more time to be curious. It might be time to realize that learning isn't work anymore. It might be time to realize that learning (the work) and curiosity (the fun) can be the same thing.
What about you? Have you had a similar experience? Has life changed your curiosity? I'd like to hear your experiences. Especially from those who have experience opposite of mine…of those who have kept their curiosity alive through the years; how have you managed to do it?
Thank you again for reading tonight!
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