How to access Beginner’s Mind.

A theme of my sabbatical has been learning—either gaining new skills or improving existing ones. I’ve been practicing writing, meditation, and golf. I’m taking my first improv class. I’m swimming again after a long break, and just got out of the pool for the first time this year. Finding my stroke and getting comfortable in the water took some effort. Though I’m not qualified, I gave my mom some tennis lessons, which made me focus on the instruction I’ve received in the few lessons I’ve taken. I tried horseback riding for the first time, and fly fishing for the second. I went skiing and focused on my form, and felt as capable as I ever have on skis.

Not since childhood have I been exposed to such steep learning curves across so many activities in such a short time. It’s fun, and it’s exactly what I wanted out of this period away from work.

I’ve also noticed the compounding effects of learning in parallel across disciplines. When you try to improve across a mix skills—some completely new and some well-established—your mind can tune into the learning process in a deeper way. You can bring the beginner’s mind even to things you’ve done since childhood (like swimming, for me). This means noticing more interesting details in each activity, while somehow simultaneously being less distracted by thoughts in the moment. It’s a great feeling, and one of many good reasons to always be learning new things.

Riding a bike always makes me feel like a kid again. It’s an easy shortcut to that magic feeling of flying, carefree, looking at the world like it’s brand new. Stacking so much learning into such a short period feels like riding a bike. I hope to never forget this feeling.