[Day 26/99]
Tonight, I went and lay on the pier and just looked up at the sky. It's been a long time since I've tried to find shapes in clouds. They're like a naturally occurring Rorschach test. Most of mine were related to diving and death.
On my way back home, I passed by this Mexican Folkdance rehearsal and listened for a while. Their shoes were very loud on that wooden floor, and their rhythms are so unique it was honestly more fascinating with my eyes closed. I looked up videos online though, and I have to say, the way the ladies' costumes flow is mesmerizing.
I was thinking tonight about the past few days of getting my PADI Open Water certification. I did 7 dives in 4 days. I went from only having snorkeled, to feeling at home 60 feet underwater. I definitely owe a debt of gratitude to Cesar, Ruben, Oachu, and Miguel of Caribbean Divers. They were incredibly patient and encouraging even as I asked a million questions and messed up in a thousand ways.
I found so many parallels between this experience and that of learning to dog mush from Cim a couple Winters ago. And of learning to farm from David a couple years before that.
With all of these, I learned from masters (using Malcom Gladwel's 10,000 hour rule). I came in as a complete novice, but after my apprenticeship, I left a journeyman, skilled enough to go it alone.
I'm a huge fan of the apprenticeship model. Besides being a practical way to learn, it's also a great way for masters to give back and to keep learning by teaching.
So I got to thinking.
What else do I want to learn? What else feels like a part of myself that I know exists I just haven't experienced yet? Areas of my Sphere of Possiblity. Three stand out:
Baja racing, flying a helicopter, and building a house.
But what could I teach?
I'm at a point in my software engineering career where I get a lot of joy out of helping people accelerate their learnings by guiding them past hurdles.
So I'm curious:
What are some things you want to learn? That your soul craves to experience?
What is something you have mastered that you'd like to share?