"I'm having the greatest time. It's like I'm on some ridiculous big roller coaster not knowing what's happening next, but just having a great time on the ride." ~ Samantha Mumba

Photo by L&U adventure on Pexels.com

Just in the past week, while I was canning tomatoes, I've had several people say to me (almost verbatim), "I don't know how to can anything." Great! Not everyone does. I certainly wasn't born knowing how to can things. I've had people say similar things about other endeavors in which I'm involved.

"I don't know how to crochet."

"I don't know how to sew."

"I don't know how to do plumbing."

"I don't know how to renovate, remodel, rehab . . . . "

Funny thing is, we live in the age of technology. Just about everyone has a computer or a smart phone. They don't think twice about using those things to check baseball statistics, or watch movies, or say, "Hey Siri . . . " They can watch TikTok videos and Snap all day long, but they don't know how to . . . .

Why aren't they using that technology not just for entertainment but to learn a skill they don't have but would like to have? Is it laziness? Do they not want to put in the time and effort to learn something? Is being visually entertained really much more pleasurable than the sense of satisfaction that comes with completing a task or learning a new skill? I can watch YouTube accounts and Instagram reels and be entertained WHILE learning a new skill.

Prime Example: Today, I needed to cut corrugated sheet metal panels. I have tin snips (somewhere) that I cannot find. Not to mention the corrugation aspect would make it difficult to cut with tin snips. Not sure if I would be able to use my circular saw outside to do so, I "googled" it. Several YouTube videos showed me not only how to cut the sheet metal panels, but how to set up the sawhorses and wood to support the panels while doing so. Ta da! Now I know how to do it and will have that knowledge for future use down the road when working on our privacy fence.

My roller coaster ride of life will always be about learning, about teaching others, about sharing knowledge. I cannot sit and watch a movie or a television show for entertainment alone; not without thinking about other more productive things I could be doing.