Fanning The Flame: 10 Ways To Be A Lifelong Learner
Photo by kevin laminto on Unsplash
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
I have the above quote posted on a sticky note on my green tiled kitchen backsplash, right above my “command station”: to-do lists, calendar, and where my cell phone charges and rests. It’s there hopefully as a reminder, as I’m going about my day, to not completely give my brain over to the world of social media, grocery shopping, chores, and hot take news. Instead, I want to be inspired to be a lifelong learner. Someone who stokes the fires of education regularly.
It’s an apt analogy. We all love a warm fire. Whether a campfire, in a wood stove in an A-frame cabin, or in a fireplace in our home, a fire offers us warmth, light, and the invitation for community. It provides an atmosphere to read a book, play a board game, or think deeply about and share the thoughts currently compelling our minds.
As we transition into the coolness of fall, and education takes off around us, we should not discount the importance of continuing to grow in knowledge and the skill of learning ourselves, no matter our age or stage of life. May the appearance of fall fires around us stoke within our minds the desire to continue feeding our inner student.
I’ve brainstormed a list of 10 ways to feed the fire this fall, even if you aren’t a formal pupil:
01 | Sign up for a college class.
Take a non-credit class through your local or online community college. Just because you aren't working toward a degree doesn't mean there aren't a plethora of opportunities to join with others to learn about a new topic or a new skill.
02 | Study a language.
Maybe it's time to dust off your high school French and finally learn past-tense? Duo Lingo is a free online platform (with both a website and an app) boasting over 300 million users each month. As an avid user myself, I can vouch for it´s easy navigation and the increase in vocabulary. Or maybe you are ready to speak in person? Look online for local or online groups that meet regularly to speak only in the language you want to practice.
03 | Start or join a book club.
Maybe you've been wanting to hang out with your neighbors more often anyhow, or you'd love to see your coworkers outside of the workplace? This is an opportunity to both stick your nose in a book and bat around what you´ve learned and what topics have piqued your interest, along with gleaning from the knowledge of others. Plus, snacks and drinks!
04 | Take a masterclass.
Take an at-your-own-pace class online from a master. Both Masterclass and Skillshare offer a huge variety of classes from Photography with Annie Leibovitz to Everyday Minimalism with Erin Boyle. Both of these options run on monthly membership fees, but you can take as many classes as you want once you join, and Skillshare does offer some classes for free.
05 | Watch a documentary.
Maybe you are already a documentary fan, but if not, they have come a long way from the snooze fests we often ¨watched¨ in middle school history or science class. Beautiful videography, engaging interviews, and covering topics far and wide, there's one for every interest out there, often already on your chosen streaming platform. My family recently enjoyed Netflix´s ¨Down to Earth¨ with Zac Efron (yes, from High School Musical), where he tours the globe and asks all the questions we´d ask about sustainable living for both humans and the planet. Plenty of hilariously awkward moments included.
06 | Get creative.
Join a class at your local gardening center or art supply store. These may be just a few hours or include several sessions, but the result is often having created something you can take home and enjoy after, such as a wreath or watercolor painting. Plus, you get to support small businesses!
07 | Take up a new sport.
Whether you take a class at a club or through your local parks and recreation department, or you just ask some friends to join you, you´ll be learning the rules of the game and how to improve at the sport as you also get exercise. Pickleball anyone?
08 | Purchase a Page-A-Day calendar.
There are calendars to learn a new word each day, see a new art masterpiece, solve a sudoku puzzle, learn random or sports facts, along with many other themes. This is a super simple, fairly cheap way to learn something new every day!
09 | Start a game night with friends.
As you learn new games you’ll be learning the rules and developing winning strategies, and some games like Scrabble and Scattergories will undoubtedly bring up “Is that really a word?” arguments!
10 | Invest in a coffee table book.
Grab a coffee table book featuring a topic you are interested in learning more about. Costco has a multitude of them this time of year before the holidays, and they are often visually captivating. Leave it out, open, somewhere around the house where you´ll sit down or go by during your regular routine. Read a page a day as you sip your coffee or eat your lunch, or instead of flipping on the tv right away after work. One of my favorites is “History: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Present Day” by Smithsonian.
In short…
Hopefully one of the above ideas has sparked not only your desire to keep learning, but also how easy and fun it can be to keep feeding the fire.
