That is a line from one of my songs… it is called: Lessons Never Learned, and it is under that button on my header bar called: ‘my original song videos’ It is also one of those deceptively simple truths that so often end up being overlooked. The sad thing… awww, I knew there was going to be a thing, but I didn’t know it was going to be a sad one… many people think that once they are done with school, they never have to worry about learning anything new ever again. How scary is that?
I never finished high school. Oh, I passed my GED, and I have even taken some college classes, but I am still technically a dropout. But long before I went back to school, I self-educated myself. I read history books. I watch the educational channels. I have read the bible… not to find religion, but to see what all the fuss is about. I have read many of the great religious tracts, to gain insight into the minds of people from around the world, and to see what truths and wisdom those books contained. I have also traveled the world, to meet my fellow human beings and see how other cultures have fashioned their lives.
Obviously, most of you can afford to ignore this advice. You are bloggers. That means that you value words and thoughts and ideas. I am writing this for only a few of you, but those few should heed my words. There is no shame in ignorance, but it isn’t something to be proud of either. And it is a condition that is easy to cure.
Every day, you can flip open a dictionary and learn a new word… this will not actually make you smarter, but it will make you sound smarter. Find topics that interest you and delve into them. The strange thing about the human mind is that it never really fills up.
Pouring My Art Out 
I hated high school – I was so bored. A few years later, I couldn’t wait to go back to school & started taking University courses at night. I managed to get halfway through my B.A. before baby & husband interfered. I am currently taking a course on Forensic Sciences & just finished taking one on Climate Change. I try to never stop learning!
Babies and husbands… they hate smart women…
Not the baby! Just the stupid, selfish first husband!
oh yeah… that guy…
There is always something new to learn. Every day I try to learn at least one new thing I didn’t know yesterday. My problem is remembering it until the next time it comes up. If I don’t then I learn it all over again.
I learnt something new today that poppy seeds on bagels or in muffins can cause you to fail a drugs test (no I didn’t fail one I just read a blog post about it) but I googled it and it is true I just never would have considered it but I am sure at some point it will be a very useful piece of information to have
Umm… I have never been very good at tests… HA!
Blogging by itself has taught me a great deal.
I used to design adult training, and I wrote about and subsequently researched anything from dentistry, making toilet paper and foundries to chemistry and construction. All useless bits of information, but I loved it nonetheless.
I bet you have fun at parties… you can contribute to any conversation.
True that! As you can see from that first sentence, I got an A in grammar. I never learned to read music and one day (a year or two ago) I decided to join a singing group in town. I love to sing but had no idea how to follow along with the rest of the group. I stuck with it and finally could read the notes. Woot, woot! I never thought that would happen. I’ve got to come up with something new to learn soon. 🙂
You learned you want to learn… Hey, I can’t read music and I have written about 150 songs, and been in bands…
It’s overwhelming, how much there is to learn and to study. But that is also the best part of life.
Do you ever find yourself reading a really boring book about a really exciting subject? I was reading this huge book on the entire history of canon forging in Europe, from the very first ones all the way up to the Krupp (?) Works in World War One. The stages of development that artillery has gone through, the ways they have been made, were fascinating, but it listed every gun ordered by every King or army…
Yup, been there. I have also read exciting books about boring subjects. Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business was like that. It’s about saints. But it’s riveting. It’s not non-fiction, though. Fantastic novel.
You’re really into military history, eh? That’s cool.
I really really am… writing a weird war facts book that I have been researching for decades…
That sounds interesting… perhaps a sneak peek? Totally sounds different from your other stuff. You should totally post about it.
I have barely begun typing it up when all this blog/book stuff began… it is all still in the hundreds of books in my garage, highlighted and underlined.
That is so true. I learn new things every day, like never to trust my GPS ever again and that drinking so much that you use a slice of pizza for a pillow is never a good look.
HA! I have woken up with my head in worse things than that…
As a college dropout, I identify with you and agree with you. The world and all it’s knowledge is a feast we should never turn our noses at!
Right… binge learning… that’s where it’s at
I learn new words in from just reading blogs and comments, in fact. And it’s one of the reasons I even have a blog.
Problem is, having a blog (and reading 100+ others) is one of the reasons I don’t read as many books as I used to.
You get credit just for the word score…
It is very scary. There is so much to learn every day VIA so many different avenues. Why would one not want to take the opportunities?
I have no idea…
dictionary.com will send a word a day to your email. I get so excited when it is a word I already know! That is also where I learned seisquapadillion. I may not have spelled it correctly but isn’t it a cool word?? It is a long word for someone who likes long words..
See, I knew that you would not need this advice…