Unlearning and relearning

 

A wise man named Alvin Toffler once said, 

“The illiterate of the 21^st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Recently, I have been on a break from my studies, and at first I became so accustomed to working everyday, going to the library and writing out a paragraph or two a day. It became my daily regimen and I felt productive, even though my goal always seemed so out of reach. I never realized how much I was purely devoting my time to be "functional" and never allowed myself to enjoy my time, which was a failure on my part. I became fixated on one main goal, to graduate and get a good grade for my Masters. I never actually realized how much I detached from myself and my likes, hobbies, and I was shocked at this grand ability of mine. I immediately realize this now, at a greater magnitude when I especially had nothing much on my schedule, nobody to report to. No money, no friends to distract myself. I believe now with the  changes, I finally adapted to my new lifestyle and had some space to think. Although, I do have a new goal now, which is to job hunt, I seem to be leaving things in gods hands now and seeing how things play out. I do still keep an eye out for openings and apply everyday. 

I started reading a book called Existentialists and Mystics, and it is refreshing to read about human nature and the way we make sense of our worlds outside of the religious view of things. I was brought up in a heavily religious household (to which there were some questionable teachings I experienced) I should begin writing on that too.

I digress, the point of this post was to highlight the importance of learning and relearning. There were so many habits I picked up during my studies, one of which was heavy drinking. I made so many friends from the Central American Continent and they drink ALOT as part of their culture. I made a few friends for life and also fell in love, multiple times. I think I can say that my experience during my Masters in Taiwan was one I never expected. I had two learn, unlearn and relearn so many times during my stay here. Learn a new way of communicating, learn a new language, learn a new culture. Unlearn previous approaches that worked well in one culture and country, but did not work well in another. I think I should be a master of this technique by now, but I feel like with every new situation, I am reminded of how silly and inexperienced I am.

Learning and unlearning societal rules, I would say was the hardest. I think on top of this, learning to function as a non-functional human (according to society) is also hard. I self diagnosed myself on the spectrum with ADHD, and although I am high functioning, I realize more and more what tires me out, how I can reserve my energy better, and what kind of humans I need around me. Those who care for me, those who don't take advantage of me, and those who seek to understand me. Because that is what I would extend to them, and reserving myself for this person in the future would be worth it. 

I am written out for today, I am glad I was able to share this POV with you today. There are so many things I could write on, and I believe I should write more. That should be my daily activity, writing every evening. New goals. 

See you again soon.

Best, 

Naimi