I’m a knitter, and a crafter in general. I grew up doing “crafty” things with my mom and my grandma (who lived with us starting when I was 5, and still lives with my parents). I paint, draw, make jewelry and cards, and have attempted sewing. Pretty much, if it’s crafty, I am into it. Of course, this can get a bit overwhelming 😉
I have also, more recently, gotten into digital scrapbooking to help keep up with all the memories of my daughter’s early years that I want to save from the inevitable forgetful black hole that is my mommy-brain (and I am now obsessed, by the way!).
The first (and glaringly obvious) thing that my hobbies have taught me about learning is to just DO IT! Maybe have someone show you (or find a tutorial) the first time or two, and just get your hands dirty and try something.
Ask for help, or search Google or YouTube for tutorials, when you get stuck or feel like you could do better.
Go ahead and screw it up. If you can’t live with the mistake, start over & do it again, but don’t keep yourself from jumping in because you don’t want to “do it wrong.”
Don’t wait until you can “learn everything” about the hobby before you start – you can’t absorb the finer details until you try the basics.
The really great thing about learning and hobbies, is that we are already interested in the topic, and motivated to learn. We don’t have to figure out some contrived relevance to our real lives, we are seeking out the knowledge and skills required to DO the fun stuff. Hobbies make us happy, and really that’s all we usually require of them. As human beings we are happier and healthier being challenged, so learning is a natural and integral part of having a hobby.
And wow, if you can love what you do, do what you love and actually make a living at it, how much fun would that be?
Check out how Logan LaPlante has constructed his own education around this kind of plan:
And just for fun, 18 Important Life Lessons to Learn from Knitting [BuzzFeed]
What are your hobbies?
What have they taught you about learning?
Is it anything you think you could apply to your work?
Tell us in #chat2lrn Thurs Jan 30 8am PST/11am EST/4pm BST. See you there!
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