Learn, Unlearn, Relearn
(Please note - I’m having a hard time editing this one. Hang in there.)
I keep running into this quote lately, which I first came across from the cap of an iced tea bottle. (I know, deep, right?) 
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Alvin Toffler
I find this quote applies to so many different areas of my life where I have “learned” something. From the impressions I get of a certain person, to the way I want to make changes to my home, to the ideas I learn around parenting, to the way to eat certain French cheeses, to new interests that I feel led to pursue, etc., etc. One day, when I think things “are” a certain way, then I find that there’s more to encounter, which not only reshapes my understanding of something, but sometimes upends it completely!
So often I want to “build” on what I know, keep “learning,” not necessarily change the entire structure or belief system, or “unlearn” and “relearn.” I end up resisting what’s true and real at that moment, simply because it doesn’t “fit” into what I’ve already set up as a way of thinking. At some point, the whole thing collapses on itself and I’m left with some new basics, some new, deeper understandings of what’s true.
Why do I think what’s “right” now, will always be the right way to understand something? As I experience more and more things, I find the entire way I’ve viewed something is ready for change. The new understandings don’t simply tweak what I knew, adding knowledge. But I have to deconstruct, not cling to what’s comfortable. Then build a new understanding and appreciation of what is. The kicker is, it doesn’t end here. At some point, I’ll have to do this again, and again, and again. Why is it so hard each time? I guess because I keep thinking, “Aha - now I really get it!” Sure, I get it. But only right now.
I’ve spent the better part of my 38 years figuring out “the” system for organizing my house and my life. I’ve had many “aha” moments along the way, bursts of inspiration that helped complete the process for me at that time. Then it comes around again at some point! I’m still savoring my professional organizer friend Darcy Prince’s sage advice about the home - focus on making it “comfortable.” That takes out all of the emotional charge for me, and it helps redirect me away from unattainable perfection. I’ve learned so many organizing techniques over the years, I could probably write a book about it! But now, gifted with this nugget to “relearn” organizing, I’m better equipped to unlearn the other habits, to let go of the things that I let block my way.
It’s how I got back to blogging. I learned how to blog, and I set up a pattern for myself. Then I found that I wasn’t doing it much, I got used to writing more, but I don’t have time to edit them to make the entries “perfect.” I’m unlearning perfect. Relearning just getting my ideas out there so I can reference them later, plus I appreciate the ongoing feedback and dialogue my words have sparked.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I have been coming up against so many of the same issues in my own life and even in my own house. Rethinking what is possible, what can be done. We can do whatever we want! It’s freeing and also a little unsettling to realize how stuck I have been on how certain things need to be a certain way. Those built-in glass cabinets have to store china and crystal because that’s what they’re *for*. Um, we use the china and crystal maybe once every 3 years. We use our craft stuff (yarn for my knitting, leather for my sweetie’s bookbinding) *every day*. China and crystal are now headed to boxes in the basement. I love hearing about your journey to get your home to where you want it to be, and I’m playing along at home as well