The Joy of Discovery - Rapid Fire Learning for February

Rapid Fire Learning: "Rapid fire recall, stream of consciousness, trusting that what needs to come out and get chronicled IS in fact my learning."

I have deliberately NOT planned what I am to write about my learning this month, taking Rosa's words (above) and trusting that what needs to come out, will.

February has been a big month, activity-wise. Lots going on. For February feels like the first month of the year to me. January gets filled with summer holidays... those long lazy days of doing not much. Come February, the children go back to school, work resumes and life speeds right back up to a breathtaking velocity.

My top 5 learnings this month, off the top of my head...

1.    Baking is therapeutic. I re-found my love of getting into the kitchen and baking up a storm (lost years ago in the rush of raising a family and working). Add the benefit of spending time with my daughter as she learns to cook alongside me and the learning is doubled! (The family are all for it - they love the fruits of love that come out of the kitchen:)

 2.   The stuff we own isn't necessarily stuff we need or use. We packed our entire house (except the kitchen) into boxes in early December as a prelude to new flooring. Since then we've finished painting about 1/2 the house. The boxes are still in the shed, unopened. We have needed something in them exactly twice (sticky-tape on Christmas Eve, and my son's birth certificate as he enrolled in university). I'm still discovering the lessons in this...

3.   I need to remember to trust the universe. I was a little anxious about what book I would review for A Love Affair with Books next month here at JJL, as all my books are packed in those boxes in our shed. Until I started reading a book I had picked up on a whim earlier this month. As I started reading I realised I had no need to fret, the right book HAD presented itself, after all...

4.   I am looking with fresh eyes on the mess and chaos that surrounds me. Why? The book I have been reading, and chosen to review is A Perfect Mess: The hidden benefits of disorder.

5.   I learned that it is OK to mark up a book. In fact, it is necessary to deepen the learning, and to make that learning accessible when you want to go back to it (without reading the whole book again). I am testing this learning using the tips from Tim Milburn in his post How to Read an Unfinished Book; and Rosa and Dave in the comments on that post - how rich was this conversation??

Now that I've shown you mine, why not share yours?

We'd love you to explore your own learning for February in a rapid-fire way - jot your 5 in a comment, or send us a trackback to your own post. We're really curious about what you're learning...

Then join me in the final 5 days of February as I aim to turn some of the actions from my learning into lifelong habits and powerful mindsets.

All of the top-achievers I know are life-long learners... Looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they're not learning, they're not growing... not moving toward excellence.

~Denis Waitley

---

Learn with us! Visit here for 25 Compelling Reasons to Adopt Rapid Fire Learning. Then join in as we revel in the power of learning and sharing as a group... we're really looking forward to your visit.

Karen Wallace lives to learn and learns to live. You can find more of her writings at The Calm Space - an online magazine that's like a virtual day-spa for the senses.

Comments

[Joanna Young]

Hi Karen, great learning points here, thank you. Mine should follow on tomorrow (if the wonder that is technology works...)

I love baking too, not least as it's impossible to bake without getting your hands dirty, breaking some eggs and making an unholy mess!

Joanna

[Rosa Say]

This is terrific Karen, for you have truly captured the *why* of Rapid Fire Learning; a monthly exercise which is a self-revealing experiment. We know we learn something nearly every day, but what made the biggest impression, and then knowing these things, how will we use the five days remaining in the month “into lifelong habits and powerful mindsets.” For instance, ‘ohana and the experiences of family and community as learning triggers really speak loudly in yours.

My own challenge with the stream of consciousness exercise is that the number five is too few, for in the first five I get what recently happened, but they are not necessarily what I know will hold the most impact for me. I guess it’s normal that we remember the most recent things first, and so must still and keep writing for the month-long memory to come as well. This month however, I was pretty excited about the first one on my list, something that may seem trivial but I’ve been trying to figure it out on my own for a while now —the cleanest html code I can use for getting my Flickr credits as captions with wrapped-text aligned photos. The first time I achieved it was here yesterday: http://tinyurl.com/2rnhke

Mahalo for being our RFL Mea Ho‘okipa (hostess) this month Karen!

[Karen Wallace]

@Joanna - I'm looking forward to your RFL! I agree about the unholy mess you make when baking, the floor ends up with a coating of white... the benches covered in drips and dirty bowls... the sink full of licked spoons and sticky measuring cups. I believe the 'right' way to do it is to clean the kitchen before you begin, then fill the sink with hot soapy water so you can wash up as you go. But that never seems to work with me. The enjoyment and satisfaction seems to increase in direct proportion to the mess.

Ahhh... another 'mess' hint for me. They are coming thick and fast these days. Thank you for your insight, yet again, Joanna. You're a treasure!

@Rosa - Thank you. I have to admit that I DID a stream of consciousness writing about my learnings for February, and ended up with more than 5. I just kept writing till I was done. Then I edited, taking out those that were a little too personal.

Congratulations on your own learning with those credits and html code - way beyond me! I think learning like that is so precious, even though it may seem trivial when we share it, we know in our hearts that it is a real punched-fist-in-the-air-Yes! moment

[Angela Esnouf]

This month I have learned:
1. You're never too old to make new friends.
2. To back up my computer properly.
3. To recognise opportunities and seize them.
4. How to make a straw from a sticky note (very important when blowing up an air mattress with a faulty valve, while setting up camp at 11pm).
5. That it takes 3 weeks to catch up after a copmuter downtime of 1 week.

Thanks for the reminder that learning is a lifelong joy.

[Karen Wallace]

Angela - Welcome and thank you so much for joining in!

I love your five - and had to laugh out loud at the straw from a sticky note... the mind boggles at the situation that caused THAT little bit of ingenuity...

It sounds like you've had some interesting computer times - I'm sorry to hear that, and hope you're all running fine again. There is nothing like computer malfunction to prompt a lesson we'd rather avoid.

I am so pleased you joined us!