Deep Dives

One of the principles by which I strive to live is lifelong learning. Way back in the day, I’d get tired of school; the homework, the schedule, the rules. I’d dream of no longer being a student. Oh, to be free to do as I please all day long. Like most kids, I had a skewed view of what adults did with their days. I knew little of the need to make a living, pay the bills, keep the house clean and full of necessary supplies while cooking meals and providing clothes for kids to wear to school. Must be nice, I thought, as I imagined moms watching soap operas and eating bonbons or dads chatting around the office (this was decades ago, think Mad Men). To be honest, I still feel a bit sorry for kids who shuffle from class to class at the ring of a bell, stay up late to finish the paper they forgot was due, and prop their eyelids open to read about things that don’t interest them. Then there’s the math and geography. No wonder school is filled with drama. It breaks the monotony. While I don’t wish to be enrolled in school, I do want to learn something new. Every day would be best. I hold my father up as a role model for life-long learning. He read and wrote and sat on his porch with a pipe and a hot toddy to ponder things of the world. I loved to engage him in deep conversations, even though he bought into a prejudice against certain groups of people as he inched toward his 95^th birthday. We didn’t always agree, but I knew I’d learn something from him and maybe be encouraged to read a book I’d not heard of.

I like the idea of taking a deep dive into a topic for one year. Greek Mythology. The Roman Empire. Quantum physics. The goal would not be to become an expert in that field. I mean, quantum physics? Come on. The benefit would be to understand one’s world through a new lens. The truth is, I can’t think of a topic that interests me enough to focus solely on that. But imagine how smart I’d sound if I ever had the opportunity to engage in a discussion at a cocktail party about string theory. Whenever I dream about a single topic year of learning, I turn to music. Theory eludes me. I’ve tried. I have books that claim to make it simple. I’ve known musicians who understand it like I understand walking or breathing. Am I just being lazy or is there some logic missing from my brain that muddles the idea of the circle of fifths and chord progression? I blame numbers. Words I understand, at least some of them, but numbers? Yet, music fills my days and haunts my dreams. I want to play piano and guitar and even ukulele, but do I have to understand the fundamentals? Yes, darn it all anyway. Without craft in the background, the art gets fuzzy. So, it’s back to school after all, even if it is only for music lessons.

What topic would you pick if you could spend this year in a deep dive? What skill would you practice under the direction of a teacher? Would it change how you see or act in your world?