why learning as an adult makes you COOL

Today, I did something I have not done in years. I skied up and down the same slope for hours, non-stop.

The last time I did this was during Covid, when my sister, Trudy, and I were preparing for our ski exam.

One thing that struck me today, while my fingers and toes were slowly freezing on the lift, was how hard it is for adults to learn.

And no, I am not talking about flexibility, stamina, or general bodily function (although I swear my blood circulation at 24 is much worse than when I was 17!). I am talking about the mental blockage and aversion we develop towards learning something new and unfamiliar.

Learning new things means daring to be vulnerable, to fall, to fail. It means admitting that, despite all our successes, we do not know everything and cannot do everything.

It bruises the ego. Somewhere along the way, we get it into our heads that to look like a learner is to look like a loser.

Which is funny, because it is absolutely NOT true. At school, you and your classmates pick things up together, at roughly the same pace. After you graduate, that stops. So choosing to learn something new actually puts you ahead of the curve.

Of course, this is not about comparing yourself to others. It is simply to show that choosing to pick up a new skill, and getting yourself back up over and over again, is cool.

My therapist once gave me this advice: “Pick up a skill you are very bad at. And pick up more as you grow older.” It can be anything: sport, music, cooking, art. Build that learner’s muscle. Learn how to learn again.