Learning Through Necessity

This weekend, my toddler decided to use my phone as a bath toy.  Consequently, I've had no phone during our biggest snow storm of the year.  I've got to admit: it's nerve-wracking. Being snowed-in and really pregnant with a husband in Germany, I've decided my best plan of action if I go into labor is either to have the baby here at home, or strap my son to my back and snowshoe over to our closest neighbor that knows how to deliver babies.

It's a bit thrilling actually.

I recently had another "the way things used to be" talk with my Mom.  (I'm sure you know this talk; it usually starts with "Back before cell phones" or "Back in my day," etc).  Anyway, she reminded me of how much sturdier people once were in the U.S.  Without being constantly connected to everything all the time, folks tended to be very prepared for the unpredictable.  If a woman went into labor in a snowstorm, you better believe she figured it out on her own.

And so like the American women of yore, I did a little reading on emergency home births, channeled my feisty pioneer woman spirit, and battened down my hatches.  Likely nothing will happen. But in case it does, I'm educated.

If this year has taught me anything, it's this: learning happens through necessity.   In school, we learn mainly because we have to make grades.  In life, we learn mainly because we require new information to succeed.  Every week at my building, I'm Googling how-to videos on renovation.  In my music career, I'm searching for articles on charting for string quartets, how to design album covers, etc.  At home, I'm continuously reading about how to remedy everything from sinus infections to wolf spider infestations.

The moral?  The harder life gets, the more we have to learn.  I would wager that the smartest among us are those that were faced with endless trials.  Strange as it is to say, thank your lucky stars for your problems and challenges because without them, we'd all be dumb as rocks.

Reader, I hope you have a great week, and if by chance you don't, I hope there are some good take-aways from it.  Get set for some fan-list holiday gift news next week! I'll see you next Sunday. -Em

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