My 20s probably could have been titled "Do Something Kinda Crazy That Maybe You Didn't Think Through All the Way". This involved lots of interesting decisions with vehicles (riding on top of them, hitchhiking with truckers, accepting rides in vans from strangers in foreign countries), religions (that whole accidental cult thing), clothing (on top of that waterfall in Thailand, that prison in Venezuela), and education (2 MAs. Really?).
As I reached the end of my twenties, I began to realize that
1. I was unlikely to keep making these decisions that resulted in totally cool stories (some of the above will be forthcoming in future posts) because many were, ah, kind of dumb
2. There was lots of stuff that I still really wanted to learn how to do
So, I decided that my philosophy for my 30s would be "Learn a New Thing Each Year." Each year of my 30s I choose one thing that I've kind of always wanted to learn how to do and I make a conscious effort to learn it.
The year I turned 30 it was move back home to America and get a full time desk job and learn how to be a normal grown up person. That wasn't so exciting, but kind of necessary.
Year 31 was learn to knit. All through my 20s I'd be hanging out with cool friends who would knit during movies. How cool was that?!?! You could watch a movie and do something productive at the same time (and be hipster cool before hipster cool was even a thing)! Knitting worked way better for this than my previous main hobby: reading.
When a knitting friend was visiting, I coerced her into a trip to Michaels and a quick beginner lesson in knitting. My first scarf looked horrid. But I totally love it! It gets skinnier and then thicker and has some holes in it where I dropped stitches. And I totally did the major knitting no-no and (gasp!) tied my yarn together when I ran out. Also, I had no idea how to actually end the whole knitting process and get it off the needles. Thank goodness for youtube videos.
My scarf definitely looks like a 3rd grader made it, but I love it because that's exactly what it's supposed to look like. The very first time you try something, it's not supposed to be perfect, and I think that's something I lost track of as an adult. I only liked to do things that I knew I would perform reasonably well at. My first knitting experience was so awkward - how on earth do you hold your fingers like this? And the yarn goes where? But over a year (and a knitting group at church later), those finger movements come automatically. It was weird and awkward getting started, but I've come to realize that you've just gotta embrace the awkwardness. It all felt strange and uncomfortable at the beginning and I totally sucked at it, but the pay-off - totally worth it.
Here's my very first scarf!! With a close-up of that bedraggled uneven looking part. :)
Stay tuned for an upcoming post on this year's "Learn Something New" Project. What's something new that you're learning??
As I reached the end of my twenties, I began to realize that
1. I was unlikely to keep making these decisions that resulted in totally cool stories (some of the above will be forthcoming in future posts) because many were, ah, kind of dumb
2. There was lots of stuff that I still really wanted to learn how to do
So, I decided that my philosophy for my 30s would be "Learn a New Thing Each Year." Each year of my 30s I choose one thing that I've kind of always wanted to learn how to do and I make a conscious effort to learn it.
The year I turned 30 it was move back home to America and get a full time desk job and learn how to be a normal grown up person. That wasn't so exciting, but kind of necessary.
Year 31 was learn to knit. All through my 20s I'd be hanging out with cool friends who would knit during movies. How cool was that?!?! You could watch a movie and do something productive at the same time (and be hipster cool before hipster cool was even a thing)! Knitting worked way better for this than my previous main hobby: reading.
When a knitting friend was visiting, I coerced her into a trip to Michaels and a quick beginner lesson in knitting. My first scarf looked horrid. But I totally love it! It gets skinnier and then thicker and has some holes in it where I dropped stitches. And I totally did the major knitting no-no and (gasp!) tied my yarn together when I ran out. Also, I had no idea how to actually end the whole knitting process and get it off the needles. Thank goodness for youtube videos.
My scarf definitely looks like a 3rd grader made it, but I love it because that's exactly what it's supposed to look like. The very first time you try something, it's not supposed to be perfect, and I think that's something I lost track of as an adult. I only liked to do things that I knew I would perform reasonably well at. My first knitting experience was so awkward - how on earth do you hold your fingers like this? And the yarn goes where? But over a year (and a knitting group at church later), those finger movements come automatically. It was weird and awkward getting started, but I've come to realize that you've just gotta embrace the awkwardness. It all felt strange and uncomfortable at the beginning and I totally sucked at it, but the pay-off - totally worth it.
Here's my very first scarf!! With a close-up of that bedraggled uneven looking part. :)
Stay tuned for an upcoming post on this year's "Learn Something New" Project. What's something new that you're learning??
I love the idea of learning something new each year of your 30s, I'm a little late, but that sounds like a fun thing to try, thanks!
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