Learning to Love Learning

I have always tried so desperately to convince myself that I do not love learning. After all, an uncontainable love of learning could potentially make me a bit nerdy, and, frankly, I am already treading far too close to that line as it is. However, I am discovering more and more that I have this strange quality where the thoughts of others are simply inconsequential in my grand scheme of things, and boy, am I ever indebted to this strange quality of mine. You see, I used to live in perpetual fear of the scrutiny of others and the incessant desire to be accepted. Turns out, this didn't really work out for me, so I've taken a different approach towards life, an approach quite the opposite, if I do say so myself. Now, I'm not afraid to say that I love learning. I am deeply, passionately, madly in love with learning. Alright, maybe that is a bit much. Wait, no it's not.

Learning is breathtaking. I can barely catch my breath as I’m sitting here just thinking about its limitless possibilities. Yet, this is not to say that I love each and every thing that I am forced to study and learn within the walls of my microscopic high school. Call me crazy, but I don't necessarily want to scream "YEAH, THIS IS SO NEAT," every time I learn a new mind-boggling, kind of grossly complex lesson in calculus. In fact, sometimes, I want to be sick or break something. To put it simply, I love learning, but I'm not a freak. No; that was kind of harsh. What I actually am trying to say here is that we all have certain things that spark our interests, that leave us so far on the edges of our seats that we will most likely fall off sooner or later. And that's when true learning takes place: when we plummet ever so freely into the unknown, into the curiosity-inducing, into a world where familiarity and obscurity feed off of one another. And this is life. Without learning, life itself is unbelievably pointless. I believe it was Winston Churchill who said, "It's what you learn after you know it all that really counts." In other words, we do not grow out of learning. It is a lifelong treasure that even the most reluctant of geniuses must admit to still practicing. And undoubtedly, thoroughly enjoying.

For me, the most beautiful learning comes in the form of writing. I can write and write and write some more, but I will never become a truly perfect and universally-adored writer. That's unheard of; it's not possible. And that is what I like about writing. As I learn more about its alluring craft and brilliant components, my readers can learn right along with me. In watching me grow, they too can spring to new heights. Yes; I like that very much. I mean, let’s imagine for a moment that I could create my own dream school, overflowing with none other than all of my dream courses. They would be vastly different from the “standard” school, but they would not necessarily have to pertain to writing alone. At least, not all of them. That would be unrealistic. Rather, it would go a little something like this:

Course 1: Writing Outside and Making the Life of Nature Exude From the Pages So Much So That They Are Dripping. Literally.

Course 2: Writing Inside By Something Inspiring Like a Warm Fire

Course 3: Learning to Let Jesus Christ Rock Your World and Turn Your Life Inside Out and Outside In and Here and There and Everywhere, Preferably

Course 4: Writing Poetry In Such A Way That It Makes The Readers Tremble And Question Whether They Are Trembling Out of Joy or Passion-Saturated Empowerment, or Maybe Something Else

Course 5: Script Writing for Renowned Shows Like Saturday Night Live or How I Met Your Mother

Course 6: Writing Carefully Crafted Works for Friends and Loved Ones Because You Are Terribly Inept At Saying How You Truly Feel

Course 7: Reading Every Classic Novel Ever Written, Just For Kicks and Most Likely For a Tremendous Literary Snack

Course 8: Discovering the Secret to Making Every Person Around You Feel as Though They are the Most Precious, Beautiful, Extraordinary, Gifted Thing You Have Ever Encountered in Your Entire Life

Sorry for the extensive course titles, but I figured the names could speak for themselves if I went about it this way. If I could set up the perfect classroom setting, it would be completely void of any classroom whatsoever. The classroom would be that huge tree in the park or a crowded cafe or a bustling studio or a pleasantly simple window seat or a large and quaintly awkward family gathering or the smallest hut in a third world country. Those sound like the most incredible classrooms to me, the only true classrooms in all actuality. Indeed, I would be happiest if learning was no longer a thing that happened within walls. Yes; if learning happened only when these walls came crashing down.

P.S. Shout out to the person who asked for a shout a pretty long time ago. You are loved.