Vitae Discae

I've been thinking a lot about learning over the past weeks and days. Last month, I said to someone that I wanted to continuously improve; their response was that improvement implied that I didn't view myself as already good enough. What if I had said that I wanted to continuously learn? I think her reaction would have been different. "Vitae Discae" - learn for life. Isn't that a value that is consistent with a vital and changing life?

So, "vitae discae" it is. I want to learn for life. Hence, my preoccupation with learning. Do I learn something new each day? The answer is usually yes, but as I reflected on the sources of my learning I realized something new. Ordinarily, I would say that I learn from newspapers (I subscribe to three), books (my children didn't need to go to the library in high school; they just went down to the basement and found one of the classics that I have held onto), and the Internet. I learn from my own experience. But, the new realization is that conversation is the greatest source of learning for me because when I am in a dialogue with another person, I'm not in control of what I read or access, think or feel. The conversation must be of interest to both of us. And what interests me is whatever the other person is interested in.

This summer I had a three hour long conversation with a southern U.S. lawyer who is a Vietnam vet. He came out of that experience wanting to understand the war not only from his perspective but that of others. He has amassed tens of thousands of books and movies about the Vietnam war. He told me that he does not have a television set but that his walls are lined with bookcases and even so, books are piled everywhere on the floor. When the conversation started, I could name three books and four movies about the Vietnam war. By the end of the conversation, I had taken out a pen and listed ten new titles that I wanted to read.

I had another long conversation about motorcycles and track testing with a young man . We were driving from Edmonton to the mountains to go rock climbing and he was in the passenger seat next to me with a British motorcycle magazine. He read me excerpts. I asked questions. He described his goals in terms of his riding his bike. He also described his fears. The time flew by and soon our drive had ended.

Neither war or motorcycles is a topic I would have sought out. Those conversations serendipitously arrived and I learned a lot. So, yes, I will continue to seek out books about herbs and gardening. I will read biographies of people who I respect. I will read history and science, but the learning that is unexpected, the learning that comes from passionate people is the learning I most treasure. I like learning what I didn't intend.