Learning your learning style...

So this one's all me...

While the overall quality of my formal education was generally excellent, like many, I have come to realize that my own "natural" way of learning wasn't always activated by the set methods and formats I encountered in school. First off, I know my inner character interfaces with exteriority in a few basic aspects: courageous, engaged, disengaged, and fearful. Learning techniques received on the disengaged/fear side of the ledger tend to be ineffective. That sounds obvious, and this makes it all the more frustrating to think back on my education - why weren't misguided attempts to teach me identified and fixed? Learning was often an alienating experience. Logic was often substiturted with magical thinking. I was frequently asked to learn in ways that clearly missed my strengths. And this, over time, I became used to. That was my greatest educational "sin" I think. Acceptance.

While we each possess a constellation of learning styles, here's one of mine I'd like to call out. I've always been a good mimic. That goes for the narrow definition (I'm naturally able to imitate voices and mannerisms), and it has a deeper meaning as well. The ability to hear and recreate a voice or a character trait comes down to an ability to deeply comprehend its distinctive psycho-emotional makeup intuitively. It is not a logical, time-worn process, it occurs in an instantaneous "flash" of full gestalt recognition that registers emotionally as clearly as a photograph. That flash somehow reorganizes my body and mind to be able to recreate what I've observed physically, sensorially, and emotionally with great accuracy.

This mimic instinct doesn't just mirror and repeat. The individual "flashes" are stored and made available to mix and react with other flashes, sometimes resulting in unusual amalgams and original ideas. Not surprisingly, when these flashes are firing and combining and processing absorbed information in a fluid and stimulating fashion, I tend to move into the courageous side of my character.

This is all something I'm learning to identify about myself later in life. Had I been able to understand this ability at a young age, I think I might have had a very different life experience to date. I might have become an actor or a singer or a politician. But instead, I spend a great deal of time getting familiar with states of fear and disengagement. That has lead me to writing and a relatively private life. I am happy with this outcome, especially since there is no way to evaluate the outcomes of parallel universes or the potential of spilled milk. With ten zillion words typed and scrawled, I am just beginning to write for myself. This blog has been helpful on that path, fuzzy thinking, lazy writing, and all. I am excited to see what happens next. I am excited to learn about how I learn and how to apply it to the second half of my life. Stay tuned...

(Brookesia micra, a microscopic chameleon recently discovered in Madagascar)