Learning new skills is so fun! I can still remember that feeling, when I realized how letters build up words, and words build up sentences. How wonderful it was to swim and float on the surface of the lake.

In my later years I’ve noticed how easily we take knowledge and studying for granted. It’s easy to forget something that is always there. You can walk in a public library and borrow almost any book or music album, in many locations there’s free wi-fi and access to internet, most of education is free of student fees, even for adults, not just kids, and latest change in education was the law, that made it obligatory for every person under 18 years to attend a school. It’s difficult to think how to live in modern society without knowing how to read.

It would be easy to think that it has always been in that way. That everybody can read, write, calculate and even surf on internet. But no. My grandparents went to school until they were 12 years old, only 6 years of schooling, and they gained only basic knowledge in maths, literature, natural sciences etc. One of their parents couldn’t read or write, he signed the papers with a capital A. And he died in 1960’s! Only 60 years ago! It is not ancient history, it’s still in our memory. It shows the pace of progress within last 80 years, within one generation.

It can be frustrating, when you try and try and try to learn something, it feels difficult and you are not sure if you will ever need that piece of knowledge. But at that moment it’s good to remember, that it’s privilege to have access to that information. The more we learn the more we can learn. We can teach our brain to understand more complex structures simply by trying. And it’s the possibility offered only to a limited amount of people. To those who can afford the education. Take advantage of that opportunity. One more reason for practicing gratitude.

Gratefully writing

Joana