joyful2beeblogs

I love to learn! When I was growing up we had a library of different topics in our home or we could borrow books from the public library about any subject we were curious about.

I get excited when I learn things. Knowledge is the key that unlocks so many doors! Knowledge is the bridge between people, between past and the present, between ignorance and being informed. Often it is the bridge between war and peace or one country and another.

Knowledge helps us adapt to challenges.

My husband passed away years ago. He used  to fix everything around the house. But you know what? I learned that I could look up anything and fix it myself or I could know if I needed help.

Given the resources at my fingertips and the simple kinds of problems I face even with some physical restrictions, I can figure out a lot or at least know where to look for information.

Recently I had an example of the thrill I get from learning information and solving problems. My sink disposal wasn’t working. The motor ran fine but the cutting disc at the bottom of the “well” wasn’t turning. I tried the reset button and the little Allen-wrench thingy but nothing worked. So I went to my favorite modern source of information: the internet. I looked up “disposal won’t work.” You can use just about any phrase or wording and find answers.

So a reference to a video started me on my quest. The disc was jammed. By unplugging the disposal, using a flashlight to look into the disposal and using one of my long screwdrivers I dislodged a little hard piece of plastic that had wedged under the blade and the disposal worked! Yay me!! I am woman! Hear me roar!

Knowledge comes from traveling.

My father teasingly said we were part gypsy, because we loved to travel. We traveled first in a travel trailer, later a mobile home to St. Louis, Expo 67 in Quebec, Mexico, Florida, Blue Ridge Mountains, Texas, Florida and most of the states in between. Because of our travels I could relate to people of diverse cultures, social customs, languages and educational levels better. I had traveled so much I had at least an acquaintance with some knowledge of other cultures.

I studied Spanish from an application on my cell phone and lap top for mental development. I may not have been able to converse in Spanish but my feeble efforts showed my Hispanic patients that I cared enough to try to use words they knew; knowledge was a bridge.

Knowledge is a bridge to other people.

The internet is not the only source of information. Other people know a lot about many different topics from experience. People enjoy sharing what they know, especially if it is a favorite topic or experience they enjoyed.

Years ago my family traveled to Germany, and later my son and I traveled to Zurich as an extension of a trip to Germany. I listened to audio tapes to study German before the trip.

Even though I only knew words and some phrases, I enjoyed relating to my sister in law’s family and hearing words I at least recognized. I understood even more when I read information on displays in museums. Travel helps us learn that people don’t always think or live or eat or work the same ways we do. But we can learn so much from each other.

Knowledge is a bridge between the past and the present.

 

 

 

 

 

What better way to study history than traveling to a colonial town with people re-enacting the lives and work and dress of the people of that era.

What a difficult lesson it was to walk through a concentration camp in Germany and place my hands on one of the wooden lockers the Holocaust victims used. 

Traveling to Virginia Beach and seeing the historical sites there were fascinating, as well as was seeing the three-masted ship replicas at Roanoke. Seeing how our ancestors lived, moved about, ate, and were clothed may shed some light on what they had to do to survive and how creative they were.

Biltmore Mansion taught a lot about how one very wealthy family lived in the late 18th, early 19th century.

A formal education rounds out our knowledge.

I enjoyed being educated in school too because it was new; however the pressures involved in education sometimes dampened the joys of learning.

As an adult I study what I want to study. I have investigated Native American cultures, cats, birds, plants, belly dancing, and Bonsai trees. I took classes in photography, business, Reiki, water color, Feng shui, “Writing a Great Story”, even sign language at one time. It is a wonder my brain hasn’t exploded! LOL

When confronted with a problem, look it up! You don’t have to do anything but enter a question on your phone or computer’s search engine. I also love You-Tube. You can learn how to salsa, belly dance, paint with water colors, or acrylics, how to sew different things, how to crochet or knit, change the oil in your car, pretty much anything!

Knowledge may help keep our brains healthy. You may have heard the old saying, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.” Those neurons in your brain are ready to work and seem to thrive on being used. I am betting on it!