On Joyfully Undirected Serendipitous Learning
Lessons in self-guided education
I first came across the phrase “joyfully undirected serendipitous learning” in Sir Terry Pratchett’s book, A Slip of the Keyboard.
It really stuck with me through the years, because there is a certain freedom, personal curiosity, and intuition that comes along with undirected reading. This is the type of exploratory freedom, and affordance of discovery that libraries and bookstores stand for.
In my own life, apart from just undirected, serendipitous reading, I have also started to pursue serendipitous learning. This means that I simply follow my natural curiosity, not forcing anything, and learning what brings me joy.
Everyone’s talking about intuitive eating these days: the idea that our bodies are intelligent enough to figure out what they need. Similarly, I truly believe in the idea of intuitive reading and learning. Our minds and souls are capable of figuring out what they want to be fed.
There are many, many, many books and tutorials, and videos, and documentaries out there. How would we know which ones to consume? I have a problem with the homogeneity of content consumption in the U.S. despite the sheer volume and variety outt there. Most people in my office are watching the same two or three shows on Netflix. Everyone in Silicon Valley seems to be reading the same set of books. There seems to be a need to conform even in the kinds of content that people consume in this country.
Austin Kleon, artist and best-selling author, says in his book, Steal Like an Artist, that we are a mashup of what we choose to let into our lives. If we read the books that everyone else is reading, and learn the things that everyone else is learning, we are probably going to be like everyone else. This need not be a bad thing, but I do think that we each have the opportunity to contribute to diversity of thought in this world!
There have been several instances where friends have recommended online courses or books, and I have simply not been interested in them. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, a book that several of my friends have raved about, simply did not work for me. My favorite book last year, in fact, was one called Under the Broken Sky, by Mariko Nagai, written in free-prose style. Right after reading it, I was inspired to write a poem that really resonated with my followers. They said it sounded completely original, and that the style was like nothing they’d ever seen before.
That’s probably because they hadn’t read this book.
Here’s the secret: Nothing is original.
As Austin Kleon says,
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”
Your secret to originality and joy can be that you are following your own natural curiosity to discover the information that speaks to your soul, even if it might not be interesting to other people. Even if the thing you are interested in is breakfast waffles, follow that thread. I dare you.
In a world where everyone’s learning about blockchain, don’t feel bad about wanting to learn about waffles instead, if that’s what you feel like.
My own natural curiosity has led me to fulfilling encounters with authors, artists, thinkers, and poets. Even when I’m supposed to be learning API design or something, I am usually rereading Alice in Wonderland, or watching a movie by Ozu because my favorite author, Pico Iyer, spoke about Ozu’s work in one of his books. Since I love Maria Popova’s blog, BrainPickings (now called The Marginalian), I decided to follow various threads from her blog, and discovered philosophers, and literary works that I’d have otherwise never discovered on my own. For example, Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights is one of my favorite books now, but I only learned about it through Maria Popova. Similarly, Maria led me to Krista Tippett and the OnBeing Project, which led me to more books (like Braiding Sweetgrass, Wintering) and philosophers, poets, and spiritual leaders, like Thich Nhat Hahn.
In fact, I keep a record of the people I look up to, and words that inspire me. When I am bored, I simply follow more threads and references that I find in the works of these people. I am almost never disappointed! Once, at a party, I met someone who told me that her favorite book was Songlines by Bruce Chatwin. She was older, and was from Australia, and was pretty sure that I’d never have heard of this author or book. But I had! It was a book that I’d randomly discovered at a bookstore, and the blurb spoke to me. It wasn’t a bestseller or a highly recommended book. In fact, it only had 3-ish stars on Goodreads.
The idea is to learn however you please. Don’t just stick to books or ratings. Follow podcasts, watch videos, and documentaries that sound interesting to you. It is snobbery to believe that certain kinds of books are offlimits to you as an adult. Read children's’ books. Take online courses on Skillshare or Udemy or Linkedin Learning. I propose to you two rules:
- Only learn that which brings you joy.
- Follow the thread. The rabbit hole. The chain. One thing always leads to another. If someone you like listening to shares a book/podcast/movie, take the time out to check it out. Again, follow rule #1 though. If it doesn’t bring you joy, move along.
I guarantee that this joyfully undirected serendipitous learning will be a fulfilling journey! :)
