Learning as a Way of Being

Is It Ever Too Much?

I’ve spent my life learning. Not just in classrooms or through certifications—though there have been plenty of those—but in the messy, hands-on, figure-it-out kind of way. I’ve learned through books, experiences, heartbreaks, hobbies, tutorials, and trial and error. And I’m still learning.

I’ve learned how to communicate with intention and clarity. How to hold space as a coach. How to navigate medical decisions and care for a beloved dog with a Grade 2 ruptured sarcoma. How to build—literal things like a chicken run, a gate, a table, a website, a fire pit and even a patio—and digital things too, like a custom GPT, a website, and content that moves people. There's also been intangible things like confidence, capacity, and calm.

I've learned how to lean into my faith, how and when to say no, and have difficult conversations. How to assert myself in moments that matter and when to exit relationships that no longer serve me.

I’ve learned how to spackle a wall, remove tile, paint cabinets, and get stains out of a coffee table. How to meditate and how to breathe through anxiety. How to train a dog, paint a house, use Photoshop, speed read, and make cookies that don’t include a single one of my allergens. I’ve learned the correct spacing between studs, the best natural remedy for slugs in the garden, how to start a fire, get out of debt, and how to care for a chicken with a broken toe. I've learned about the brain, business, human behaviors, emotional intelligence, project management, NLP, herbal remedies, change management. How to navigate autoimmune conditions, write calligraphy, how to write from the heart, paint and draw just because, make all-natural cleaners, clip dog nails, perform CPR, and install a faucet.

I’ve learned how to drive while following a MapQuest printout, changing CDs, talking on a flip phone, and sipping an iced coffee without missing a turn. I've learned how to assemble IKEA furniture, how to use a compass, how to measure twice before cutting once, parallel park, refurbish furniture, negotiate a deal, and how to salsa, merengue and bachata after too much sun and perhaps a few too many cocktails.

I’ve learned how to lead, how to coach, how to teach, how to stand up for myself, and how to sit with grief. I've learned to forgive and love myself, and how to journal through my highs and lows.

Some of what I’ve learned I’ve tucked away—forgotten French conjugations, knitting techniques, how to change a tire, pieces of algebra that served me once but not again. But even the forgotten bits live somewhere inside me. They helped shape how I think, how I solve, how I see the world.

And here’s what I’ve come to know for certain. Learning will never be a box I check off. It is not a phase. It is not a means to an end.

For me, learning is a lifestyle. It is a devotion to the ever-expanding edge of what it means to be human. To be alive. To stay open. To grow.

Curiosity breeds understanding. And growth? Growth is essential to the human experience.

I may not use every skill I’ve picked up, but each one has stretched me, humbled me, or surprised me. Some I’ll pass on, turning my knowledge into service. Others will stay quietly with me, reminding me that I am capable of figuring things out. That I can do hard things. That I am allowed to be a beginner—again and again.

So is it ever too much?

Not for me.

Because I don’t learn to keep up. I learn to keep becoming.