THE RE-LEARNING CURVE

We've all heard of--and experienced!--the Learning Curve. Started in our cribs and hasn't stopped since. Really! We're learning something all the time.

I've always thought (silly me) that what we learned never left us. After all, we've been told for decades that we humans use only ten percent (10%!) of our available brain/memory ability. Honestly! Ten percent! So, what about the other ninety percent? What happens there?

Sorry, folks, I don't have the answer to where the other ninety percent is or what it's doing. But I'm really concerned about that ten percent that I'm using. Is it full to bursting even though it's only a ten percent pocket?

This whole issue came up for me recently when I was able to return to a former project: knitting baby hats for the birthing center at a local hospital. Here's what happened:

For several years, our church group made knitted items (including hats) and sewn or quilted blankies for a large hospital's preemie unit. Then COVID changed everything--no meetings at the church (lockdown); members scattered in different communities so it was hard to keep our production going; but worst of all--the hospital (and other facilities) no longer accepted items made by anyone.

In my case, the production of items for babies stopped. I tried making other things, mostly items for family gifts.

Then a few months ago I learned that a neighboring county's hospital had re-opened and expanded its birthing center and was accepting knitted hats and blankies. Wow! Cause for celebration! I'm once again in the business of knitting for babies.

EXCEPT! I had to RE-LEARN how to knit those little hats. I remembered the basic pattern, but discovered flaws in my memory about finishing. Had to consult the pattern (much tattered from years of kicking around in my knitting tote), made several false starts, ripped them out, tried again . . . you get the idea. Knit--rip out--start again--repeat.

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This story  has a happy ending--one hat is finished (and even looks like a little baby hat should), another is on its way; and I have a basket of yarn (donated by my knitting buddy--thanks, Emily!) to keep me in stitches (sorry, bad pun) for months to come.

I did learn something, though--I learned that just because I once knew it and could do it, didn't mean I'd have it perfectly in mind forever. Some things had slipped off the mental shelf and had to be restored before the project could be finished.

To be fair to myself and my brain (now in its ninth decade) I do remember multiplication tables; know how to operate the add/subtract/multiply/divide principles. And percentages and decimals. Remember and mostly use good grammar. Spelling is also at optimum. And guess what? I learned all those things in my very young years, grades one through five or six.

So if you're having some problems remembering, cut yourself some slack and list what you DO remember. I'd almost guarantee it'll be more than you probably thought.

And the Re-Learning Curve? Relax. Everybody's got that going for them. We may have boosted our ten percent brain usage up to twelve or even more, but we're probably not going to remember everything. Give yourself a break. You can always RE-LEARN it, right?

Blessings,

Thursday's Child