There are things that school can’t prepare you for. There are challenges that no lesson you’ve learned will make you ready to face. There are everyday struggles that are mere myths in childhood and imposing realities in adulthood.
Schools don’t teach everything. They’re meant to prepare kids to thrive in life, but schools are remiss in important things, like how to budget money or how to replace a flat tire. Practical things, things that we end up learning through other means. That we all too often end up having to learn on our own.
Isn’t it amazing, then, that we live in a world where such information is so readily available? In the second it takes you to pull out your phone, thousands of years of knowledge is at your service. We carry around the weight of history in our pockets. We can read. We can read everything. How to take care of your car, how to fix your computer, how to paint your bedroom, how to fix a broken chair. So much knowledge, so much teaching, and we barely have to look very hard for it. We just have to be willing to read.
Say what you will about misinformation and gossip online, but facts, the useful kind, are just as easily found. So read. Read everything. If in doubt about how to cook a meal, read about it online. Curious about the history of the city you live in? Read up on that, too. Read, read, read.
And if you’re concerned about possible misinformation, then read about the same subject in different sources. Use your head. Figure things out. We aren’t being kept in the dark as much as we might think. A lot is online, enough to make the Library of Alexandria look like the preschooler’s section at your local bookstore.
Don’t know what the Library of Alexandria is? Guess what? You can look that up right now!
And if you aren’t one for the Internet (although, seeing as how you’re reading this blog, well …), there are still plenty of options. Libraries, bookstores, garage sales, hole-in-the-wall shops. Books are still everywhere. Buy some, read them, learn, grow. Reading is learning. Learning is independence.
I’m completely biased in saying this. I’m a writer and reader. I love words. Though I grew up loving the tactile feel of a book in my hands, I recognize how useful the Internet is for learning stuff that isn’t just silly and random. There is so much to learn. So much of it can be found for free. You’d be surprised how much of it is just there. Not hidden, not obfuscated. It’s out there. We just have to be willing to look.
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Many thanks for visiting my blog. I post updates on my writing career, I muse over storytelling and fiction, and I reflect on the curious and wonderful things in life.