I am not one of those who know the names of all the Presidents (I think I could name ten), nor do I claim to be an expert on all things baking (that requires skills I don’t have). I cannot tell you the type of bird that sits on my fence in the morning to greet me at my kitchen window and I most certainly will not be able to help my children with their calculus homework in a few years (we have Uncle Jason and Arif Cha Cha for that).
Now, am I capable of learning all those things? Of course, but do I need to know those things? Not really. I can Google a list of the Presidents in record time. I can buy beautiful cupcakes at the store, and I could probably take a picture of the bird and figure out if he’s a chickadee or a wren. As for the calculus homework, I have the phone numbers of the uncles aforementioned, so am good there.
There are some days; however, that I wish I was an expert at something. I don’t know in what, but it might be nice. At dinner with friends, if the conversation happened to turn to, let’s say, animals of the artic and you were an expert; how splendid! You would be able to add your two cents about the Narwhal’s eating patterns or how the Arctic Tern migrates over 22,000 miles each year. “Fascinating, just fascinating,” they would say. You’d smile and feel all “know-it-all” like inside, but that moment would pass and then the discussion would turn to finance and everyone would order dessert. Would being an expert on arctic animals benefit the conversation at dinner? Maybe - Maybe not.
Perhaps that’s what this is about. I’m searching for that subject I enjoy enough to become an expert on the topic. Not so I can fluff up the dinner conversation, but to fuel my soul and keep my mind wondering and wanting to learn as an adult. My dad and I have often talked about the fact that the value of education is lost on teenagers. I didn’t pay attention to Mrs. Peterson’s lectures, as I should have, but learned enough to take the test and pass. There was no joy in 8th grade English, but now as an adult, I wish I knew more about punctuation rules and when it’s appropriate to use “…” or a hyphen.
As an adult, my interests continue to change and am enlightened by all that there is to learn and know. For now, learning about writing and all the possibilities that come with that subject is fascinating, just fascinating. (To me, anyway.) I hope that you will take a minute today to embrace something that fuels your soul and read about it, learn about it, watch a movie about it. Because when our souls are fed, we are happier people.
