Sometimes it seems to me that I have been a very different different person at different times. — Or have I just lived several different lives?
There is much food for thought in the lectures for this week! I do have memory links back to my very early years, so according to some philosophers I am one person with “different person stages.” As I look back I can roughy divide my life into person stages of about 20 years, so I can see why “score” might be a good unit of measurement for occurrences in human history. It is astonishing to me to see the multitude of meanings for the word, “score,” so it is an interesting word to use in a post.
In my first score of years I grew from infancy to early adulthood, learning about the world around me at a quick pace through daily life as well as through schools and reading as I grew older. In those years I thought of reading simply as fun and interesting without considering implications for the future, but now I can trace the influences of early learning though my later years. In retrospect I am sure that my reading of Jane Eyre in high school is influencing my life even now as I reread it more than fifty years later.
Half of my second score of years was spent in Europe. I was a busy wife and mother and active school and community volunteer. At that time I was a Typische Hausfrau, enjoying the opportunity to make new friends, learn new languages, and learn about other cultures.
My third score of years was devoted to my career as a teacher, at first of high-school science and later on as a college instructor of Website Design and Development and college Webmaster. I discovered that the teacher often learns as much or more than the students. If you really want to learn something take on the task of teaching it to others!
I am now halfway through my fourth score of years as an active retiree fully engaged in volunteer work – another avenue for lifelong learning. Besides helping area nonprofits establish an appropriate Web presence, I am a tutor/mentor for elementary-school students learning English as a second language. Coursera has opened a new avenue for learning, which I am finding very rewarding. I hope to be able to continue in this virtual international community for many years to come!
I am hoping for a fifth score of years. Perhaps I will have lost my memory links to my past and become a new person, but I hope I will continue to be a lifelong learner using all the latest tools that come about!
Want to enjoy meditating, relaxing, thinking, and learning? There is still time to sign up and join us in this adventure: www.coursera.org/course/knowthyself
This is the eighth of my weekly reflections on Coursera/ Know Thyself by UVa Professor Mitch Green.
Live & Learn! 