My refrigerator is rather sparsely populated. Milk, cheese, beer, assorted condiments—but no okra, and nary a leitmotif in sight. So the analogy troubles me a bit. But I love the basic idea here!
Look, Mike, I did what I could—I called it an analogy and not a metaphor just so you wouldn't be troubled. But I highly recommend leitmotifs; they only have half the calories of regular motifs!
Thank you for sharing this — I really enjoyed reading it. What I take from this is that we want to give ourselves a chance to learn things we will enjoy and/or find useful later. This means, I think, that we have to be open to trying out a lot of different things not knowing whether we will enjoy them and/or if they will end up being useful. I find that initial step of starting something new a bit hard, but, I suppose, definitely worth it. So I think I should try to be more open to initiating new ‘knowledge projects’.
Thanks, Tove. I am not convinced we should start doing something that we know we won't enjoy, just because we think it will prove useful (e.g. finances, for me). Rather, I think that, as you suggest, we should try new things, and keep doing them if we like them, without really worrying about whether they will be useful in the future. The perspective I am presenting here is not so much prospective as it is retrospective: Considering all of the skills you have developed in the past, would any of them prove useful now? Or in other words, is there a way to capitalize on any of those past investments?
I think that you really can't lose by starting to learn something. If you think about it, the most likely outcomes are that you dislike it and quit rather promptly, or that you do like it and keep doing it. In either case, you have learned something and are better off for it.
The one type of scenario I wouldn't recommend to anyone is "go to law school just because your parents want you to". That seems rather soul-crushing to me, and likely to lead to future resentment. But in other cases, learning something new is always good for you, don't you think?
My issue is the opposite. I don’t get rid of anything for fear I’ll need it later… don’t picture a hoarding situation. I’m talking about papers I wrote in high school and college. My box of licensing stuff I had when I worked in publishing… the business cards of all the people in the business who are now dead, retired, or in a different industry.
You’re right though. The things I did give up, like trying to hang on to Italian I never used because “I wasn’t going to visit my family in Bari” again… always ends up biting me in the butt.
But in any case, I sympathize! As I wrote in that post, I tend to keep stuff, especially if it has sentimental value, though I would also say I am not an extreme case. I have a friend who has a keyring with loads of keys on it, including one to the car that his ex-girlfriend used to drive twenty years ago! I'm definitely not in that league.
But in the spirit of this essay, I would say that it's never too late to go back to things like speaking Italian. That's a great example of something that can be resurrected.
Nope - this one. "You never know what skills you will be able to use again later in life in a different context". You talk about letting or Portugese language go - only to have to dig it up again... When we stop doing something thinking we don't need it anymore and years later we might...
I see. But don't you think that there is a fundamental difference between objects and skills? Once you throw out those old business cards, you can't get them back again. But if you go back to Italian, or volleyball, or chess, the skills you once had can be called up again—at least that's my view. And I see that as positive.
Wow. Yet again, you’ve written a thought-provoking piece that resonates deeply with my own experience.
More than once in my life, computer skills that I originally taught myself “for fun,” often while procrastinating and avoiding the things I “should” have been learning, later became things I got paid to do. (“Does anyone in the office know how to do this? You do? OK, this is your job now.”) In fact, on at least one occasion, those skills allowed me to keep my job as others around me were getting laid off.
It is also my experience that learning how to do something even just a little bit, even if I soon find I have no aptitude for it, can open whole new worlds for me. It deepens my admiration for those who can do it well. And when meeting someone new and striking up a conversation, few things cause their eyes to light up as much as when they discover that you have even just a little knowledge about the subject they are deeply passionate about.
Oh, and cooking is definitely a skill that everyone should invest in. Over the course of a lifetime, the rewards that come from knowing how to prepare meals for yourself and for those you love are immeasurable.
Thank you, Alex! I'm glad the piece resonated. And I'm glad you got to keep your job.
You bring up a really good point: that there are interpersonal benefits to knowing even a little bit about many different areas, since that allows us to connect to other people more easily. And it gives us a bit of insight into their lives.
And I agree wholeheartedly about cooking. How do you feel about okra, by the way?
Depending on how it is prepared, it can be delicious. The okra in your photo looks very tasty. But I have little appetite for okra mixed with natto (fermented soy beans,) which is a common way to eat it here in Japan.
I have not tried okra made with natto, but I can heartily recommend okra dredged in cornmeal and salt, and then fried at a high temperature. It is delicious, and not at all slimy—which is the thing that prevents so many people from appreciating this lovely vegetable.
Lovely post. And I think there is still time to learn how to ride a vespa. Just make sure you wear a helmet. One head injury would be enough to wipe out all that intellectual investment you made.
Inspiring. Quite inspiring.
Thank you, Fernando! I bet you still have some things from Ann Arbor in your own fridge.
My refrigerator is rather sparsely populated. Milk, cheese, beer, assorted condiments—but no okra, and nary a leitmotif in sight. So the analogy troubles me a bit. But I love the basic idea here!
Look, Mike, I did what I could—I called it an analogy and not a metaphor just so you wouldn't be troubled. But I highly recommend leitmotifs; they only have half the calories of regular motifs!
Thank you for sharing this — I really enjoyed reading it. What I take from this is that we want to give ourselves a chance to learn things we will enjoy and/or find useful later. This means, I think, that we have to be open to trying out a lot of different things not knowing whether we will enjoy them and/or if they will end up being useful. I find that initial step of starting something new a bit hard, but, I suppose, definitely worth it. So I think I should try to be more open to initiating new ‘knowledge projects’.
Thanks, Tove. I am not convinced we should start doing something that we know we won't enjoy, just because we think it will prove useful (e.g. finances, for me). Rather, I think that, as you suggest, we should try new things, and keep doing them if we like them, without really worrying about whether they will be useful in the future. The perspective I am presenting here is not so much prospective as it is retrospective: Considering all of the skills you have developed in the past, would any of them prove useful now? Or in other words, is there a way to capitalize on any of those past investments?
I think that you really can't lose by starting to learn something. If you think about it, the most likely outcomes are that you dislike it and quit rather promptly, or that you do like it and keep doing it. In either case, you have learned something and are better off for it.
The one type of scenario I wouldn't recommend to anyone is "go to law school just because your parents want you to". That seems rather soul-crushing to me, and likely to lead to future resentment. But in other cases, learning something new is always good for you, don't you think?
My issue is the opposite. I don’t get rid of anything for fear I’ll need it later… don’t picture a hoarding situation. I’m talking about papers I wrote in high school and college. My box of licensing stuff I had when I worked in publishing… the business cards of all the people in the business who are now dead, retired, or in a different industry.
You’re right though. The things I did give up, like trying to hang on to Italian I never used because “I wasn’t going to visit my family in Bari” again… always ends up biting me in the butt.
Renee, it sounds almost as though you're replying to the essay I posted last week:
https://livingelsewhere.substack.com/p/the-dreams-of-stuff
But in any case, I sympathize! As I wrote in that post, I tend to keep stuff, especially if it has sentimental value, though I would also say I am not an extreme case. I have a friend who has a keyring with loads of keys on it, including one to the car that his ex-girlfriend used to drive twenty years ago! I'm definitely not in that league.
But in the spirit of this essay, I would say that it's never too late to go back to things like speaking Italian. That's a great example of something that can be resurrected.
Nope - this one. "You never know what skills you will be able to use again later in life in a different context". You talk about letting or Portugese language go - only to have to dig it up again... When we stop doing something thinking we don't need it anymore and years later we might...
I see. But don't you think that there is a fundamental difference between objects and skills? Once you throw out those old business cards, you can't get them back again. But if you go back to Italian, or volleyball, or chess, the skills you once had can be called up again—at least that's my view. And I see that as positive.
Wow. Yet again, you’ve written a thought-provoking piece that resonates deeply with my own experience.
More than once in my life, computer skills that I originally taught myself “for fun,” often while procrastinating and avoiding the things I “should” have been learning, later became things I got paid to do. (“Does anyone in the office know how to do this? You do? OK, this is your job now.”) In fact, on at least one occasion, those skills allowed me to keep my job as others around me were getting laid off.
It is also my experience that learning how to do something even just a little bit, even if I soon find I have no aptitude for it, can open whole new worlds for me. It deepens my admiration for those who can do it well. And when meeting someone new and striking up a conversation, few things cause their eyes to light up as much as when they discover that you have even just a little knowledge about the subject they are deeply passionate about.
Oh, and cooking is definitely a skill that everyone should invest in. Over the course of a lifetime, the rewards that come from knowing how to prepare meals for yourself and for those you love are immeasurable.
Thank you, Alex! I'm glad the piece resonated. And I'm glad you got to keep your job.
You bring up a really good point: that there are interpersonal benefits to knowing even a little bit about many different areas, since that allows us to connect to other people more easily. And it gives us a bit of insight into their lives.
And I agree wholeheartedly about cooking. How do you feel about okra, by the way?
Depending on how it is prepared, it can be delicious. The okra in your photo looks very tasty. But I have little appetite for okra mixed with natto (fermented soy beans,) which is a common way to eat it here in Japan.
I have not tried okra made with natto, but I can heartily recommend okra dredged in cornmeal and salt, and then fried at a high temperature. It is delicious, and not at all slimy—which is the thing that prevents so many people from appreciating this lovely vegetable.
Lovely post. And I think there is still time to learn how to ride a vespa. Just make sure you wear a helmet. One head injury would be enough to wipe out all that intellectual investment you made.
Thanks, Liza. I think you're right, and thanks to all the statistics courses I took, I understand why. 😁