Beyond Words

Saw the movie “Top Gun Maverick” and gotta say, it was really good! Unlike every male I know (who thinks they are Maverick), I enjoyed the first one but I don’t count it among my favorites of all time. Same with Tom Cruise. Not my fave, seems a bit odd, but boy can he make good movies. “Top Gun Maverick” is one of them and a big salute to him and his fellow producers for keeping it unabashedly pro-America and woke-free. Whew and Amen!

Without giving too much away, Cruise’s character Maverick is back and re-engaged, only this time as an instructor. He’s not happy, only wants to fly, but takes on the challenge. That’s all I’ll say about it.

I will say it kinda ties into a post by Gretchen Rubin, one of my favorite bloggers and authors, that asked “If you could take a class on any subject, what you want to learn?” and “If you were to teach a class, what would you teach?” Hmmmm…

The first one is fairly easy as I love learning new things, which is always my New Year’s Resolution. I’ve taken Italian lessons and ice skating classes, have learned to cross-stitch and fly fish, tried zip lining (key word “tried), have dabbled in photography, and have discovered the power of yoga and meditation. This year I learned to boogie board! I’ve also taken many a class, including several “tastings” of everything from martinis to tequila, sake to whiskey, and balsamic and olive oils. All were extremely fascinating and fun. I’ve also taken lots of cooking classes but could certainly take a class (or two or three or 20) on how to bake. A baker I’m not. To this day however, one of my favorite travel experiences was taking a cooking class in New Orleans. Whether you like the city’s cuisine or not, I highly recommend it.

Rubin’s answer took an interesting twist in that she said she wants to take a class on the Beatles as she’s a huge fan, which got me thinking. Rather than learning something new, maybe I’d like to learn more about something I love, enjoy, or am already fairly familiar with. The first thing, sadly, that comes to mind is every and all kinds of self-defense and self-protection. It’s a scary and anger-filled world out there and I’m thinking I need to be prepared for the worst.

Unbeknownst to me, I’m kinda already doing this as in the past year or so I’ve discovered I’m a huge introvert and have been learning all about it. A blog on this is in the works but in a nutshell I’ve learned I’m not shy, I’m not antisocial, and I’m not stuck up. I just don’t enjoy big crowds or small talk. I crave alone time and love deep conversation.  I’ve also learned that we introverts are indeed powerful, the world needs us, and we don’t need to become extroverts.  Enough on that as I continue to learn about it all.

Courtesy Susie Davis

On a lighter note, I’d love to take a class on something random. My book club recently read a book about butterflies and even though it was waaaay to science-y for me, I loved the idea of simply learning about butterflies. My husband is suddenly into birds so for Father’s Day he got a bird feeder and book on birds. Love it! (He also got a keyboard years ago and vowed he was going to learn to play. Needless to say a key has not been touch since. Finger’s crossed!)

I don’t need to become an expert on anything; I’m just interested in learning all about things like the Gilded Age of America, anything spiritual or biblical, or maybe the joy of gift wrapping and bow making.  The thing with me is, it would have to be a short-term class as I’m not big on long-term drawn-out commitments or events at this stage in my life.

The second question is a bit tougher for me. What would I like to teach or more importantly what would I be good at teaching? Many would right away say “writing,” but I truly don’t think I’m qualified. I may be a stickler for grammar, punctuation, and spelling but I’m not an English expert. I couldn’t tell you a participle from a preposition dangling or otherwise.  I’ve always said writing is a gift God gave me and that it comes easy for me. How do you teach that?

I suppose I could teach a class on fans…the type that cool you down not the type who root for teams, although I could probably do that too but my class would be very biased! About those fans though, I read a great book titled “The Language of Fans,” was fascinated by them so I read more about them and researched them, which led me to write a blog all about their history, function, and beauty.  I’d probably be great at teaching how to organize and plan but neither sound very fun to me. I love fashion and style but am not sure I could actually teach about it other than what not to wear! My style tends to be very traditional and simple so anyone looking for fads and trends need not enroll!

What about you? What would you like to take a class in? What class would you like to teach? They say you always learn when you teach so maybe a good idea is to learn about something while teaching it. If nothing else, why don’t all vow to take a class in simply teaching by example. We could all learn from that, right? Class dismissed!