Preethi Sriram
By Preethi Sriram
Being an adult learner is a very vulnerable position one can put themselves into.
There are various factors that one may feel are stopping them from attempting to even try to start the process. For instance, maybe they have other responsibilities.
One may not be able to take time off from their work. One may not have enough holiday time from their work to be able to focus on personal hobbies.
There may be obligations to the family and the work that needs to be conducted within the house that are essential for family life.
Sometimes there are barriers as well that may be encountered.
Maybe one has an injury to overcome. They may need to take time to recover and heal.
Another barrier could be the place of learning itself. Maybe it is far away from one’s house, so the logistics of getting to the location must be considered. For example, what if the center of learning is in another country? Then one may have to consider maybe how much time they need to be able to get to the location and back, what tickets are needed to get to their location, and so on.
There is the barrier that may be from society itself. For instance, within some cultures, it may be frowned upon that women learn, or they may be prevented from learning.
Or there may not be opportunities to learn after a certain age and certain programs may have age limits for those who can attend.
With all the above, there can be various combinations of responsibilities and barriers in various permutations that can prevent someone from learning something new.
Finally, there is the barrier of our own thoughts. As an adult, one may feel that they must be on the timeline that society has provided. One may ask themselves, is it too late?
They may feel silly even. While those around them are making productions and poetry, they feel they are just reading their ABCs. Social media is filled with all the successes, but not the trials and tribulations that come with the successes.
Even one comment can stop someone from starting.
How to overcome the barrier of the self? That is a question within various Indian philosophies.
Learning something new provides that opportunity to take off that shield we have constructed around ourselves as adults and all the societal constructions that have been imposed on us.
It provides one the opportunity to learn about themselves. But it can be one of the most awkward situations to be in as an adult learner.
Sometimes one may question why they are attempting to even try.
There is a subashitam, or a good saying in Sanskrit that notes the following:
“Kak chesta bako dhyanam, shwan nidra tathaiwa cha Alpahaari grihtyaagi Vidyarthi pancha lakshnam.”
This saying generally can be translated as, what are the qualities of a learner which one can try to apply in their daily lives.
The following is my understanding of the saying.
“Have the efforts of a crow, the focus of the crane, the sleep of a dog, the care of what one intakes into their senses, and leave the house.”
One of these that seems personally striking is leaving one’s house. How this can be interpreted is to leave the comfort zone.
One needs to leave the comfort zones of their armor and shields of what they have grown up with and what they are think they know from their learnings.
Any personal baggage, one must try to pack that away during the new learning process.
This is not to say that you must forget everything or cannot build from what your understandings are, but to repurpose any negative experiences that is currently impacting the learning process into something constructive.
For instance, if there is a voice saying, “You can’t write.” Then by all means, ignore that voice, and say, “I will write.”
To start something new here are some thoughts.
Be brave. Become vulnerable. Take off that shield of armor put on you. There is no winning or losing. And go on that journey to rediscover yourself. Find that childlike spirit in you.
And repeat.
And get on that train, plane, computer, horse, car, etc.
Ready, set… it is now up to you what you do.
This series of articles is about the journey and unique insights of an adult dance student learning classical Indian dance and the experiences and perspective of taking classical Indian dance as both an American and an Indian.
Preethi Sriram is a classical dance enthusiast and lifelong learner of dance. Contact: srirampreethi@hotmail.com
