Carla.... Adventurer... Self Led learning....and Personal Empowerment....preferably while enjoying a gluten free snack! May you discover a visionary idea that will propel you toward reaching your God given potential. This is my blessed Glamo think tank.
Freedom of speech...freedom to work. Peace.
Today I grabbed a handful of fresh chives right from the backyard and ate them raw....with no dressing or additives. Ahh....that to me....is living.
I discovered that the kind of chives we grow here are called "common chives".
They are almost maintenance free and grow back every year. They seem to like it when I pull away the weeds and dump a wee bit of new dark rich soil to their space.
Up here in Northern Ontario, it can be a challenge to grow foods easily, unless you have a sunny location and great soil. Some things grow easily and somethings require more effort than I am willing to provide at this time in my life.
Wild raspberries are another favourite that grows easily in our rough climate. Our location's climate is usually about 5 degrees colder than Toronto, Ontario, Canada....(just in case you are new to my blog and don't know I am Canadian eh.)
If you are thinking about planting some low maintenance food supply type of plants, I think that the common chive is a good option. It doesn't provide a lot of calories, but they freeze up well in a simply zippy bag....and you can throw them easily into your fave soup or stew or salad. I love plants that don't require fancy fertilizer or any special spot. They like to have their own space, free of weeds and they don't need much more than one square foot of space to produce a healthy patch.
If you would like to learn from the Farmer's almanac, here's their link :https://www.almanac.com/plant/chives
For more information about this professor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Adams
I can not exaggerate the significance of what M.I.T's online courseware has given to the world. And by using the word "world" I believe I am being quite accurate. Classes such as the one pasted above are an excellent example of why "free" does not always coincide with "low quality".
M.I.T's OCW program is provided for free on youtube, which is also totally free to access to anyone with internet access and enough of a highspeed that they can watch a youtube video without it pausing or glitching too often :)
I thank God for this access. And the more I look, I see that other Ivy League schools of higher learning are following this excellent example of providing free access for any human being to be able to virtually sit in on these university classes.
Do you value knowledge? Do you value your time? Increasing knowledge is a valuable expenditure of time. Do you agree?
An extra benefit of these classes is simply the mystical notion of "blessing by community"...or in other words...."the blessing of association". When you associate with those of great accomplishment and knowledge, (even if it is done virtually through your computer, laptop or phone) you are building up your level. When you respect knowledge.....more knowledge is attracted to you. You may even start to carry yourself differently. You may start to feel more qualified to enter into different kind of conversations with your colleagues or neighbors or those in the community....far or near. You will no longer be attracted to those who simply waste time.
What we value flashes through our eyes. Our gaze indicates what we are looking for. Our gaze leads us into greater knowledge and wisdom....or away from it.
If you are blessed with a high speed internet connection.....use it to fill your life with good things. Good connections, good mentors (yes, you can be mentored by those whom you have never personally met).....good examples, all will feed your life with the spirit of knowledge and truth and productivity.
What are some of the ways you manage your work load when embarking into Ivy League Schools for online classes?
One way I use, is simply by looking at the limits of what is available. Instead of thinking "Oh wow, I have to learn everything there is to know about Quantum Physics". I look at the course that I have chosen to audit and I count the classes....
In the above course (sampled above ) there are only 24 lectures. So if I listened to one lecture per week (repeatedly if desired)
Then it would take me just under 6 months to complete my audit of this Quantum physics Course from M.I.T. That is a whole lot more manageable than feeling or thinking that the class is going to last forever.
Another strategy is simply by taking advantage of every feasible opportunity to listen to your online class. Do you walk a ways to the mail box to get your mail? Plug in your earphones, download or stream your class to your phone and listen while you walk to the mailbox.
Do you have a long commute to work? If you can safely drive while listening to a class, then enjoy your audio download while you are driving to work. Or if you take public transport, then try to download or stream your class onto whatever format that is portable for you. I don't care if you think you look nerdy for wearing earphones while sitting on the bus or the subway. I don't care if your headphones don't match your purse or if they are bigger than fashionable....it just doesn't matter when it comes to completing your goal. Set your self led learning goal and CRUSH IT!
When you make a choice to value your own "self led educational journey" you are going to discover the power of your own choices. The power you have to make a simple decision to continue learning .....no matter what age you are at.
Don't misunderstand me, I am not talking about "learning" just for the sake of preventing boredom in life.... No! I am talking about understanding that you can continue your learning journey well beyond your traditional school age years.....and that the knowledge you gain may just transform your life and career and investing path.
I believe it was the late apologist Ravi Zacharias who taught that there is "Unity in Diversity"....and that this is the root of the word "University". I have gleaned from this idea and from my experiences in life, to understand and appreciate that when we build knowledge in one area of life, it also empowers and uplifts our knowledge base in other arenas of life. Why is this so? Because all knowledge is connected.
Well friends, that is all for now. I have much to do, and at the same time, much rest to enjoy.
Over the years, I have studies how people study...how they gain knowledge and how they propel themselves forward. Of particular interest to me, have been those who have labelled themselves as
"self led learners". It may be noted that many of today's leaders are great readers and continue to invest into their own personal knowledge bank by amassing books and other media with interesting topics.
Bill Gates, makes it a point to regularly travel with a load of fresh books in tow. His assistant is entrusted to pack his bag with his preferred list of new reads....ready for any long or short journey..
Anyway, back to my point. Today I wanted to chat about ....for lack of a better word..."emotionless memorization".
If you are trying to build up your own knowledge bank that is readily available for you to pluck data from on demand, it is important for you to able and willing to input chunks of information without getting all emotional and opinionated about the contents.
For example, If you wanted to memorize the mulitiplication tables right up from 1's to 15's....you may wish to create or locate an audio recording of the answers to all these "times tables". (that's what we used to call them when I was a child...)
Then, format the audio into a format that you are able to access easily in your day to day activities. You can listen to these audio recordings while you are driving (if safe to do so) or while you are working out at the gym or while you are riding the train or trolley.
When you are simply trying to input knowledge, repetition is key. Don't get caught up in how you feel about the knowledge or even the "quality" of the narrator. It doesn't matter as much as you think it might. Your brain is a living computer and it will store as much as you put into it. Try to refrain from getting bogged down by emotions.
Social media has inadvertently taught us that our "reactions"...our likes and dislikes are more important that the actual facts being discussed. That is not helping humanity more forward. If you want to become a person with a personal stash of facts and knowledge, then you may want to try out this method of blind memorization.
Simply replay the recording of the knowledge of your choice until you are comfortably able to retrieve any of that particular batch of knowledge on demand. It will feed your vocabulary and your way of thinking during important conversations.
This is why I am such a fan of M.I.T's online coureware .....also known as "OCW". You can relentlessly replay these high level classes over and over and over ....at no financial cost and add these treasure troves of data to your personal data set. Yes, it costs your time. Yes, it costs you personally, as your social media "followers" may complain that you are not as "available" or interactive as you used to be. Who cares?
To make gains in life, we must be willing to sacrifice. We must be willing to invest time to gain what we lack. In this case, in this discussion....I am simply discussing the desire for knowledge. I am presenting the option of inputting more knowledge into your brain through "emotionless" repetition of audio recordings.
May this method will not jive with you and your personality. May it is too cold and calculating. Maybe it is too cerebral. However, it does work. I can testify that this method does work wonders if you invest significant chunks of time into it.
It just might annoy some of the folks with whom you share air with. But do not despair. Knowledge is connected to all other knowledge..... Therefore when you gain knowledge in one sphere of life....it will bless and empower many other spheres of your life as well.
Be encouraged. Don't give up on building up your personal knowledge bank.
Below you will find an example of M.I.T.'s online courseware, which is free for the taking from youtube.
