Happiness is Learning

Another thing on my "favorite things" list is learning. I could be considered an addict where learning is concerned. I can't ever stop learning. It brings me joy immeasurable even while it is never sated. I guess that's the thing that saves me from it being a debilitating addiction. It's o.k. that it is never done, because the quest for learning itself feeds me something positive. The only negative is that I am distracted from some tasks in my quest for knowledge, or late to appointments because I'm reading...

I'm taking a graduate social work course this semester. We're learning about therapeutic modalities, and we've done a lot of journal article reading. These articles have lots of statistics, charts, and graphs full of coding information that is still a bit foreign to me. I'm definitely a qualitative versus quantitative researcher. Sure, those large-scale results are important. I am so glad someone ELSE does that work, just give me a good story any day! (Return from tangent...) The articles were informative, showing efficacy of using particular modalities with specific populations. They gave lots of details about how the modalities work and described them in detail.

It was all "good theory" to have. Then, the presenter my professor scheduled for class did something magical: he took all that "stuff" I've read for a couple of weeks and whipped it into something practical and something that made sense. It was that "a-ha!" moment I so love in learning. Now, I get it. I see how all this works, where it applies, how it applies, and I am elated, walking on air. I'm excited for my future. I'm driven to succeed and just amazed that I am learning this stuff.

It's not just my class, either. I love to read and learn things. I cannot live without learning. I question people who are learning-resistant. I don't understand that kind of thought process. Sure, there are things I do not learn, like mathematical concepts, unless they apply directly and specifically to my life. I have my preferences secured in the humanities. Yet, I don't care what or where it is, learning is part of my fiber. If I had to think about those "sum yourself up in a single word" kinds of questions we all abhor at interviews or on applications, at this point, I realize I finally have a word for myself. What am I? Who am I? I'm a learner. At the most base level, that is what and who I am. And, I am so very happy, grateful, joyful to be a learner.