Learning

A running quip among authors is that don't enjoy writing, they enjoy having written. I can relate to this, although rarely, but it applies to me more in other things. Like learning. 

I enjoy the idea of learning. I like to picture my brain "leveling up" as a read a book or pick up a new skill. I like thinking about the hundreds of quotes that important people have said, telling me that learning is good. I am less stoked with picking up my biology textbook to reread things that I have forgotten and need to remember for an upcoming test, or doing the purely technical drills in a skill where I'd rather mess around and make something that I like.

And this has some sort of biological basis, too. Apparently learning activates the same part in your brain as the one that processes pain. Not to mention school may or may not have been the best pathway into setting up your attitude towards learning.

Fortunately, I like having learned, too. One of my favorite examples is learning to draw, since you can very clearly see the difference in something you drew three years ago and something you drew more recently. Similarly, I feel any high school student would be stoked if they managed to breeze through a set of, say, math questions that they were previously stumped on.

I have a few learning endeavors going on at once, most of the time, though it doesn't exactly feel like I'm learning. Maybe there is some way to enjoy this more, but for now I rely on the belief that this is all going to pay off in the future. 

And learning can be enjoyable, I've found, too, if you take your time. There's a reason so many people have aesthetic study blogs on the internet. While you may not want to go besides the point and prioritise aesthetics over, you know, actually studying, it's a way to make all of this actually kinda fun. 

Personally, I like a little jazz and some tea with my work.