|
|
|---|
Episode 911 Ready to Learn
I’m 68 and I learned how to grip a bicycle handlebar yesterday. After biking almost every day for the past 25 years and very regularly before that I couldn’t believe the change. You probably wouldn’t think that it is even possible to grip a bicycle handlebar incorrectly, but I’m here to tell you it is. Maybe I’m what you would call a slow learner or as I like to think, I was just ready to learn. I've been riding bikes for over 60 years.
When our first born was of school age we had what
is probably a very common discussion about when he would enter school. When would he be ready? We held him out a year; no kindergarten. We thought it was more important to have another year of free play and freedom. A chance would not return again for a long time.
Brenda and I were both teachers and at the time a book out of England entitled, “Summerhill” was being read by the educational community. The book focused on children learning when they are ready to learn. There is a time for everything, and some people are quicker or slower than others. It wasn’t that our son was a slow learner, but we just thought that he could learn that organizational book type stuff later. It worked out well. He became a stellar student once formal education began. An example of that book that I always recall was that of a student who did not like math following Summerhill philosophy. He did not study it at all when he was a junior in high school. Then he decided he wanted to be an engineer. He needed math in his remaining two years of high school. He learned all the mathematics he needed. He went on to study and become an engineer.
Life is filled with examples of people who could not learn something and then at a different time they seem to master whatever it is. Retirement brings time into our lives when we are allowed to explore some of these areas where we might learn something that has escaped us thus far.
Music was a big hole in my life ambitions when I retired. I had missed studying it when I was young. When I retired I picked up the classical guitar and found a teacher. For over 30 years now I have been trying to learn how to play the instrument without much success. Two months ago summer ended, and another season of lessons began. My teacher asked me what I would like to study and I suggested going back to the beginning. I wanted to learn how to not just play notes on a page, but I wanted to make it musical, real music with color shape, weight form, and feeling. It was amazing. We went back to a single string looking for perfection. I loved the practice session. I was finally learning to relax the hand position, the fingers, and finding exactly the right position to strike the string. Prepare the next finger for striking, following through in the motion and hear the sound before it sounded. My hand was able to relax. Readiness to learn has finally arrived. I have heard all of the directions before. I’ve practiced all the skills before I have known of the techniques but they never hold. I think they will this time. Life seems to be filled with these little areas of possibilities, gross areas of things we have somehow missed perhaps by choice or perhaps for reasons beyond our control.
That has to be one of the best things about retirement. We get to sit back and review where we have been and where we would like to go. We have time to become Master gardeners, a weaver of fine wool,or the author of the great American novel. We are ready, we may even be ready to learn how to grip a handlebar on a bicycle or relax our hands.
Fourteen years have passed since I wrote this episode. I am still working with the guitar. I have learned that it might be a lot easier if one were to study music earlier in life. But even so, I enjoy every day with the instrument.
This is Retirement Talk.
If you have questions, comments or suggestions contact del@retirementtalk.org
A resource from a listener: Best Free Online Degrees for Seniors guide is designed to assist seniors who aspire to enhance their intellect or consider starting a new career path. It features an overview of the top online degrees for seniors, emphasizing their numerous advantages, and a broad range of subjects to choose from. A friend's website: Terra Firma Designs: Fine Furniture, Stained Glass and woodworking workshops. Copyright 2010 RetirementTalk.org |
|
|---|
