You’ve heard of black holes, right? They’re like… okay, blobs of really dense nothing that sucks in everything around it. Black holes have something called the event horizon, which is the point where something getting close to a black hole has no choice but to get sucked in. I guess up until that point, you could turn around and avoid the whole ordeal altogether… but once you pass the event horizon, there’s no turning back.
I’ve discovered that I personally learn new things in much the same way. Let’s say I’m learning a new language… say, Spanish. When I first start learning it, it’s pretty easy. Call it beginner’s luck. I can learn some basic words, form a few sentences, and have a simple conversation.
After that, it gets hard, and that’s the point when I have to really buckle down and study. I have to push myself extra hard to get past that event horizon, when it suddenly falls into place and becomes easy… second nature.
I’ve discovered with myself that if I don’t get to that event horizon fast enough, I lose interest. I give up and put my focus on something more interesting (though usually just as challenging). Once I’m past that point of no return, however, I’m great. I’ll blow past you, to be honest.
Now, this is the part that sucks. A couple of months ago, I decided I was going to learn guitar. Don’t get me wrong; I’m having a blast with it. But honestly, I’ve gotten some chords, some notes, and some relatively simple songs. I can fiddle with it for hours on end, but it hasn’t clicked yet. I’m worried that if I don’t hit the event horizon really soon with guitar, I’m going to lose interest and quit, even though I don’t want to. So I’m making a conscious decision to stick this one out… just keep pushing, and one of these days, it’ll click.
Do you learn the same way, or is it hard at first and generally easier as you go on? Or is it all easy or all hard? Do you ever start something new just to quit it later, and what does it take for you to stick it out?
