Emma’s Radiant Life 2.3

Lessons on Learning

I read an article this week about a lady who started studying law at the age of 54 and at 60, started a new career as a lawyer.  This followed stints as Isabella Rossellini’s hand model and an estate agent.  You can read the article here: A new start after 60: I got divorced, became a lawyer – and began fighting for other women | Life and style | The Guardian

All I could do was admire her tenacity to start a new focus in life and go back to university at 54.  I did similar myself in my 30’s, quit my job and went back to university to train to be a primary school teacher.  I had a great time but it wasn’t the change of direction I’d thought I’d have. Safe to say, I wasn’t cut out for a career in teaching.  That was a learning experience and I do love learning.  I love learning, love knowledge and I’m always searching for another course, a weekend at a course, or an exhibition or a book that teaches me something I hadn’t known before.  (I have a book at home called ‘How to build an F1 Car’ by Adrian Newey one of the worlds top engineers / designers.  I haven’t yet put it to the test!)

One of my very good friends has often made a joke with me about my need to have a piece of paper to evidence that I know something – ‘Is that another ‘tificate (sic) you’ve got there Em?’ she’ll ask.  Apparently, I don’t need a certificate to show my experience or qualifications to do a task or a job.  I think I’m nearly there with accepting that, but it doesn’t stop my thirst for knowledge and my desire to learn.  I don’t know who came up with the phrase ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’, but they should have added ..’if he doesn’t want to learn them’!  There is always a way to learn and grow if you want and let’s face it, midlife means that sometimes, if we don’t want to, we just don’t.

I have started thinking about what life what look like when I finally stop being an employee, it might be I work for myself or I may be fortunate to call it quits, find a cottage by the sea, and sit in a cosy cable jumper at my desk and just read, write and learn.  You have to have a dream after all!  In an effort to plan for a ‘side hustle’ to give me an income, I’ve gone back to the online classroom.   The last 12 months, I have completed a course to become a Life Coach, a Journal Therapy course – to complement the Life Coaching (and I love journalling); Dream Therapy and analysis and even one to learn about Hedge-witchery.  

With many of those courses, the learning is one small element and it’s the ‘on the job’ learning that has more impact and I’m really looking forward to putting some of this into practice.  Growing herbs will be my first foray into Hedge-witching.  

Putting learning into practice is key to so many areas – learning a language, drawing, any subject really only improves with practice.  Most of us won’t be Rembrandt or Da Vinci on our first time drawing, but a little practice and some perseverance and a passable vase of flowers might come about.  

My favourite ‘learning’ lately has revolved around writing.  At the beginning of January I went on a weekend to learn about pitching stories to editors as a freelance writer.  I had no idea what to expect or if I’d get anything out of it, but it was a wonderful weekend with some very talented people and we all came away with some pitches that our tutor, a long experience freelance writer and journalist, felt were worth a try submitting to appropriate publications.  I haven’t got that far yet, but it prompted me starting these essays, to practice and improve my writing.  And so far I love it!

I have also been learning how to plot a novel. Yes, I’m attempting to write a novel, which makes me chuckle at the thought of it.  I’m following a method used by an online community I’ve belonged to for a while and by some miracle, there is a shape of a story emerging from a random idea I had a while ago.  I can’t share here because stories want to be written and I really want to write this one and not see it disappear to another home (for context, read Liz Gilberts book Big Magic).  

At the moment, I have yet to structure an ‘end’, but we have a beginning and a middle, which is a good place to be and hopefully by the weekend, I’ll have planned the plot for the end.  Then all I’ll need to do is spend several months filling it out and then years sweating over editing it!  

I’d love to know what genre you think I might be writing.  I’ve surprised myself, as I set out wanting to write one thing and it’s turned into something else entirely!

And if anyone was wondering, no I don’t have ‘tificates in any of those things!!

(Photo shows the Tilly Losch staircase at West Dean College)