Life’s a beach #blimage
So, I’ve been convinced (it didn’t take much) to write a 4th #blimage post, this time from
Kate Graham.
You can read all my #bliamge posts here, and find out more about the challenge and how to get involved (hint: find an image, write about it as part of a learning journey or story or experience).
I’m not a fan of cricket (which is what Kate has written about), but can appreciate how sport and a game like that can capture the passion and loyalty of a nation, especially when it’s going so very well, or so very badly, which is unfortunately how England seem to play. Kate’s challenge image, the beach scene above, is much more in keeping with my wandering soul / spirit and something that brings a lot of very strong emotions to the surface.
It is these emotions, as well as the image itself, that makes me accept the #blimage challenge here. Yes, I lived in Bournemouth for many years, just a 10 minutes walk from the wonderful sandy beaches for the last 12 years, before moving to the part of the country that is the furthest from the sea. We used to walk or cycle along the 7 mile promenade from Hengistbury Head past the two Bournemouth piers to Poole Harbour, sometimes getting the ferry to Studland and along the coast to Swanage. We’d often stop and get our feet wet, sometimes just sitting down and enjoying the sunrise or sunset.
In recent years there have been some good quality cafes and restaurants popping up along the promenade or a short distance away from it – I was able to work with a few of them and provide web design and marketing services to them, so there was always a table there if I wanted to catch the atmosphere or have a drink or meal.
But the scene above also makes me think about how I view how I learn. The scene is open, empty, and inviting. It’s a canvas to do all sorts of things like swim, paddle, sunbathe, run, walk, cycle, fly a kite, kitesurf, etc. There are endless possibilities on this one stretch of beach.
That is how I like to learn. I’m not good in a fixed environment where I have no room to explore the boundaries or room to ‘breathe’. I am happy to work within boundaries set (either physical or not) but I don’t necessarily want to see them or be told where they are at the start – I’ll find them in my own time thanks.
I learn by doing, not by being told stuff. I’ll read (sometimes extensively) about something I’m interested in, but be totally turned off and tuned out if it’s not relevant or engaging. I’m happy to follow instructions, but I need to know why I’m being asked to do something, what I can / should obtain from the task or activity, how it can help me, and where I can expect to go from there as well as where it will take me.
It’s not about how easy the learning is, it’s about relevant the process and outcome is for what I want to achieve – admittedly I may not know this when I start, but if I’m engaged, I’ll work hard at it.
How about you? Do you follow along (blindly?) and hope the end justifies the journey, or do you need to know in advance where you’re going to end up?
And, for my next #blimage challenge. I love this image and I’ve used this on another blog (more about that later!), so see what you can make if it:
Header image source: Kate Graham
Great post David and thanks for taking up the challenge from my picture. You could have written that blog about the way I learn nowadays – proactive and self motivated. If it interests me I will chase knowledge. But I guess a more structured, less open environment is helpful in providing input and direction on areas I am less engaged with or motivated by.
Indeed Kate.
Formal education never interested me, even if I didn’t realise it until many years after leaving it, and I never knew there was another way. Perhaps that’s the key, we now know there are other ways to learn beyond the classroom/lecture theatre, and are seeking out what we like.
While I still want and look for formal recognition of my work (for my own personal pleasure as well as for my CV) I find I get better ‘results’ with informal or social learning. Key for me will be whoever is able to link these two together, that’ll be so very powerful in this connected, social age.