For the Love of Learning

I had an opportunity this week to participate in the Phi Kappa Phi honors initiation ceremony as an initiate. As a new member of the Phi Kappa Phi, I stood and affirmed my membership by repeating the motto, "Let the Love of Learning Rule Humanity." My teenage daughter sat to my right as I received this honor--and it occurred to me that the whole evening would probably make an impression on her. She will graduate from high school this year--and she knows that whatever decision she makes in regards to her studies, I'll support her. I will never tell her that "she can't do something." Like my mother, who also valued education, I believe that "if you can dream it, you can do it." I feel blessed to have had that support through my life and even more blessed to share the significance of the evening with my own daughter. 

The theme of the evening was "Scholarship with Service" and many of the speakers focused on returning our knowledge in the form of service to others. I grew up in a family where education was always highly valued. My mother was an educator, my grandmother was, too. There was never a lack of support when it came to my college education. When I chose to pursue my Master's degree for no other reason than "the love of learning," I was supported wholly by a family who understood. I've spent most of my adult life in academia--and I continually encourage others to pursue learning--in both formal and informal ways. I've never had anyone question the time, effort, and energy I've spent developing my academic interests.

That said, I've observed others who have not been as fortunate as I have been to find support where their education is concerned. Many of my friends, who have a dream to pursue their education, feel it is an insurmountable task; the time it will take seems overwhelming and the lack of familial support is discouraging. It was in a moment that evening that two things clicked for me: the passion I feel toward learning, and the sadness I feel when others don't have adequate support when it comes to their academic dreams. I see a mission clearly before me--and it's a responsibility I am excited to take on. Today, I am going to start down a new path--as an advocate for learning, to those who don't have one. 

From Up Here, It's All Small

Photography is a strange thing--perspective plays a major role in how a scene is captured. I've hung from cliff edges trying to photograph the intensity of a drop and stood directly under a work of architecture in attempt to translate its magnitude; but it's never the same as being there in person. Standing behind the lens of the camera, I find it helpful to give a reference point, to provide my audience a basis for comparison.  

Sometimes that's a person, sometimes it's drawing out the contrast between two opposites. Sometimes the image never translates unless an audience has experienced the scene for themselves. 

People are a lot like that--we stand by and try to understand the nature of a person, what drives them to make a decision, what motivates them to excel, or fail. 

I think trying to capture a person by looking through one angle of one lens is a lot like taking a photo, without a first-person perspective--or at least tremendous insight--we should to recognize there is always more to the scene to consider.

Pure Magic, Baby ...

I started golfing about eight years ago--and I've never professed to be "good" at it. In fact, I started out playing more or less as a social outlet because so many of my friends liked to get out in the spring and hit a few balls around. Playing alongside them seemed exciting and it meant that I got to explore a new adventure (which I'm always game for).

The thing about golf and the part that I love the most is that when I'm playing, I don't think about anything else. I don't think about what projects are due next week, or how I need to get the laundry done. I don't stress about parenting, or money, or family.

It's me. It's the game. Pure and simple.

The reason I'm blogging about this is not to tell you how much I love golf (anyone who knows me at all knows this). It's that I was thinking early today, as I played one of my first rounds of the season with one of my favorite people in the world, about how incremental experience adds up and equates to joy. I never intended to golf because I wanted to be a scratch golfer or because I needed to challenge myself, or because I had to add golf to my task list of things to accomplish. I started because I wanted to and magically, things have come together.

My improvement in golf has been gradual (I know I've got a long way to go), but it was born from the passion I feel about the thing itself and the easiness I experience when I'm out there. Today I realized that many things in life are like that; relationships, careers, hobbies, etc. When we pursue a passion, out of pure appreciation for something, we grow better at it from a deeper place. It isn't like being forced to practice piano or pushing through a subject in school; it comes simply--it just comes on its own. The take-away? Choose to pursue things that you're passionate about--find things that intrigue and mystify you in a way that you are eager to understand and make a life of those things--if you're lucky you may find yourself even making a living out of one of them.