Learning

I am sitting in a new local coffee shop in my hometown’s downtown. I just overheard some kids talking about skiing and snowboarding and what their plans are for an upcoming trip, etc. etc. I heard one in particular say “learning to ski sucks.” He was pointing out the difference between actually skiing and learning to ski. One is fun, the other is painful. It got me thinking about learning in general. Now. I love to learn. I am a big fan of it. But. What thing is actually fun to learn? Not music. Music is maybe fun to learn about, but to actually learn to make music is a pain. It is frustrating and exhausting and it sounds horrible. Have you ever heard a kid just learning to play violin? It screeches to high heavens. My grandmother will say that’s the only thing she’s ever tried to discourage her grandchildren to do. Or the only time she’s ever been mean to her grandchildren, or something like that. Anyway. Listening to small people learning to play the violin brings out the worst in people. Learning to drive. All the whiplash from the stopping and the going and the heavy braking and … Learning to speak. Frustrating to the max. Maybe learning a language is fun. Help me with this list. What is fun for the actual learning process?

Do we like to learn? Really? Why? Why not? Is it a personal thing? Do some people like to learn, while others don’t? Do some people actually enjoying rolling down the hill over and over again? Do they like it on its own merits or is it because they like the idea of what it represents? What it will hopefully eventually produce? Rolling down the hill over and over again will eventually decrease to staying upright down the hill over and over again.

We endure pain and frustration for the end result. It has a purpose. We endure it more easily when we know what the purpose is, when we can see the end goal.