Learning: it's great, you're doing it now

No one hates to learn. It’s just that often learning is presented as this life-sucking, fun-hating activity that takes place in silence with authority figures waiting to make you feel bad about yourself. And there’s usually fluorescent lighting involved. In short, yeah, learning as defined that way IS the worst.

But that’s not really what learning is. Learning happens throughout your entire human life, from babies observing the world and intuiting the laws of gravity to your grandma talking with her neighbor in a way that makes Betsy feel heard and seen. Babies aren’t born knowing about gravity, and your grandma wasn’t born knowing how to be a good listener. They’re both “figuring it out as they go,” a.k.a., learning.

He's figuring out how gravity works!

And what a wonderful way to think about learning, right? Just figuring out stuff that helps you make meaning of the world and the role you want to play in it. It’s not boring and stuffy; it’s life itself. It’s what happens every day. You simply can’t escape it. For example, when you crash in your hotel room after a long day of travel and turn on the Food Network to zone out (because that’s what everyone does in hotel rooms, right?), and you see someone start a recipe by sautéing a mix of onions, carrots, and celery, and they call it a “mirepoix” and suddenly this French term that you’ve seen in recipes but always glanced over because what the heck is that, clicks. Learning! Unintentional! No studying required! Knowledge that may come in handy in some future conversation, trivia night, or Substack post! See? It happens whether we try or even want it to. That’s how darn stinkin’ good our brains are at learning.

Our brains are so amazingly wonderful, and they really kick butt in terms of keeping us alive and safe. But guess what? They can do MORE than keep us alive and safe! They, and the thoughts, memories, and beliefs created and stored within them, quite literally shape our reality. Put another way, what we learn shapes who we are. Again, I don’t mean “learn” like high school chemistry class. That doesn’t often shape who you are, unless you’re like me, and it shaped you into someone who does not identify as being interested in or naturally gifted at chemistry. I mean “learn” as in… let me give an example.

Ugh, chemistry.

When I was in my first year of college living in Texas and the rest of my family and extended family lived in rural Iowa, we experienced an unexpected, tragic death in the family. I flew home for the funeral, and my aunt was deeply moved because I had come such a distance at such short notice. I had never been around death before and felt that internal cringe of not knowing what to say. My 19-year-old self landed on: “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.” My aunt replied, “You don’t have to say anything. You came.” Ah, okay. Lesson learned. When things are bad for people you love, show up. THAT’S what I mean by learning that shapes you.

So we go through life, and what we learn has the power to shape us at a core level: how we act, where we put out energy, what we think is important. And most of this learning is happening on autopilot, maybe because we think we hate to learn (fluorescent lights, authority figures). But if your brain is so good at learning on autopilot, just think what’s possible if you learn with intention. I’m not talking about studying physics from a textbook, although you do you if that floats your boat. I’m talking about doing what you love and doing it in a way that reaches down deep into the core of who you are and how you understand the world so that the experience expands your concept of yourself and waters your freaking soul so it blooms.

The cabbage plants are your soul; the water is knowledge. Get it?

Because why not? Our days on the planet are limited, my friend, even if you are a billionaire devoting your resources to trying to reverse your biological age. And with our limited days, don’t we all want to connect with who and what we love in the most meaningful ways possible? Doesn’t that explain that ultimate goal of 99.99% of people on the planet, except for maybe that billionaire guy? (The shade is possibly unwarranted; I know nothing about him. I just thought it was a funny way to end the paragraph.)

After starting out as a music theory professor, I switched into adult learning and instructional design. I’ve worked in the corporate space for the last 20 years or so, learning about learning. Because I’m cool like that. (Just kidding, no one has ever said, “That’s cool!” when I explain what I do. I’m not a stunt man or race-car driver, for goodness’ sake.) But I think it’s cool, and maybe you do too since you’ve stuck with me through this post so far. So the cat’s out of the proverbial bag: I love learning. You know what else I love? Travel. And gosh, wouldn’t it nice if only there were some way to connect the two…

Woman thinking about how to combine her loves of learning and travel.

There is! That’s the purpose of this blog. This is where I will write of all things pertaining to how the glorious brain interprets experience, creates memory, and how these experiences and memories impact our view of the world and ourselves, using travel as our laboratory and context. It’s learning + travel = awesomeness. It’s all the things I love.

To the great adventure of life,

Kristina