As usual I loved this post. First, I laughed out loud at the subtitle. If I get invited to one more 30 day Challenge, I will literally choke. It is so funny in my current situation that I just might "borrow" it for my next newsletter's subtitle. Challenges are great but I think they have to be paired with your concept of Low Key Learning because if ever there was a set up for failure in my life, it's a 30 Day challenge!. Because of a spinning head over 30 Day challenegs, just yesterday, I took out a new sketchbook to put "things" in. I wrote THINGS on the cover and I have sketched 4 things already - generated mostly by prompts from challenges. It's pretty wide for ONE subject but that's low-key compliance. Thanks for another entertaining read.
I too enjoy low stakes learning. It reminds me of the saying "A jack of all trades, a master of none". I'm retired so it's all about fun now.
Have you tried iNaturalist? It's similar to Merlin but uses pictures to identify everything in nature. Right now I'm having great fun adding mushrooms to my collection. Everything everyone posts are available to further research projects. I get excited to when one of my entries is included in a project. I use Merlyn to identify birds because it's easier to get a recording of a song than a picture of a bird. I too have trouble remembering bird songs but I am always able to identify the screech of a red shoulder hawk. And that makes me happy.
Just a mention: i bought that expensive butter you raved about last month, got salted and un. Cost a lot but that was because of the shipping cost also. Made an effort to go to this little hole-in-the-wall bakery that bakes wonderful baguettes. Could barely wait for Xmas Day to enjoy this much anticipated treat. And--it was just butter. I didn't get the Brie reference at all. So-- now i have a new place for bread but will just stick with butter I can purchase from local groceries. Just sayin'.
Oh no! Sorry it didn't float your boat. Just last night I bought a much lower-cost version of a French cultured butter from Trader Joe's and we did a blind taste test at home, because that's just how exciting our lives are. The fancy butter won hands-down. But as I learned from writing The Drunken Botanist, our taste buds are literally shaped differently from each other's, which is why we experience flavors differently. In that sense, there is some accounting for taste!
I saw all the Floret Videos about Gardening in a War Zone. Yes, many tissues used. Also, I have read Tom Lake - a very good book. Thank you for sharing.
Your description of low stakes learning made me think of the writings of John Holt: How Children Learn, Never Too Late, and many others. In one of his books (can't remember which one) he describes going to a Scandinavian country (where he did not know the language) and trying to learn as a child would learn: playfully, not feeling like anything was at stake, just letting the language roll over him. After a while he began noticing certain words repeating frequently, after a much longer while he started to understand what they meant in context. I think he had to go home before he got anywhere near fluent, but it brought home to me that one's attitude about learning something could greatly affect your ability to learn it. And that preserving one's innate childhood curiosity was a good lifelong goal.
As usual I loved this post. First, I laughed out loud at the subtitle. If I get invited to one more 30 day Challenge, I will literally choke. It is so funny in my current situation that I just might "borrow" it for my next newsletter's subtitle. Challenges are great but I think they have to be paired with your concept of Low Key Learning because if ever there was a set up for failure in my life, it's a 30 Day challenge!. Because of a spinning head over 30 Day challenegs, just yesterday, I took out a new sketchbook to put "things" in. I wrote THINGS on the cover and I have sketched 4 things already - generated mostly by prompts from challenges. It's pretty wide for ONE subject but that's low-key compliance. Thanks for another entertaining read.
THINGS sounds good!
I too enjoy low stakes learning. It reminds me of the saying "A jack of all trades, a master of none". I'm retired so it's all about fun now.
Have you tried iNaturalist? It's similar to Merlin but uses pictures to identify everything in nature. Right now I'm having great fun adding mushrooms to my collection. Everything everyone posts are available to further research projects. I get excited to when one of my entries is included in a project. I use Merlyn to identify birds because it's easier to get a recording of a song than a picture of a bird. I too have trouble remembering bird songs but I am always able to identify the screech of a red shoulder hawk. And that makes me happy.
Thanks for your newsletters! I love reading them!
Just a mention: i bought that expensive butter you raved about last month, got salted and un. Cost a lot but that was because of the shipping cost also. Made an effort to go to this little hole-in-the-wall bakery that bakes wonderful baguettes. Could barely wait for Xmas Day to enjoy this much anticipated treat. And--it was just butter. I didn't get the Brie reference at all. So-- now i have a new place for bread but will just stick with butter I can purchase from local groceries. Just sayin'.
Oh no! Sorry it didn't float your boat. Just last night I bought a much lower-cost version of a French cultured butter from Trader Joe's and we did a blind taste test at home, because that's just how exciting our lives are. The fancy butter won hands-down. But as I learned from writing The Drunken Botanist, our taste buds are literally shaped differently from each other's, which is why we experience flavors differently. In that sense, there is some accounting for taste!
I'm into learning a word a day of Ojibwe as one positive thing in my social media feed and I love it
I saw all the Floret Videos about Gardening in a War Zone. Yes, many tissues used. Also, I have read Tom Lake - a very good book. Thank you for sharing.
Your description of low stakes learning made me think of the writings of John Holt: How Children Learn, Never Too Late, and many others. In one of his books (can't remember which one) he describes going to a Scandinavian country (where he did not know the language) and trying to learn as a child would learn: playfully, not feeling like anything was at stake, just letting the language roll over him. After a while he began noticing certain words repeating frequently, after a much longer while he started to understand what they meant in context. I think he had to go home before he got anywhere near fluent, but it brought home to me that one's attitude about learning something could greatly affect your ability to learn it. And that preserving one's innate childhood curiosity was a good lifelong goal.
As always, thanks again for your "not too often" but interesting comments about.....well.... everything!
Kathleen Stewart,Milwaukie Oregon