Thursday, December 19, 2013

We Are ALL Beginners

Inspiration: To continue to become humbled on a daily basis.

It was a weekday afternoon. I make my way over to the Apple Store on West 66th and Broadway. Not to buy a computer, but to take a workshop on how to use my IPhone. It has taken me to late 2013 to retire my old and loyal Blackberry and join the multitude of IPhone lovers. Mostly because I was married to its keyboard and fearful of the completely touch tone screen, Who knew it would be so freeing!

So here it is 3pm and a small group of us gather in the back of the store to learn how to manuever this thing. I have had mine for about two months now and have managed to learn a bit, but I thought starting with the basics was good. Well let's just say I was the youngest of the bunch at a ripe age of 47. There were six of us in total and the teacher was late. One woman said she was on a schedule and couldn't wait any longer. It was a good thing because the "energy" of the rest of us was open, playful and eager to learn.

So finally the teacher arrives at quarter past and we begin. Two lovely women next to me made me look like I was a pro. The questions asked (including myself) to an adept user were a bit ridiculous, and our "guide" had to show us a myriad of times the answer to the same questions. Some didn't even know what version of the IPhone they had since they upgraded their operating system online. Make any sense?

I just smiled and smiled. My eyes and heart filled with wonder and possibility...Wow I thought. Beginner. Yes. Learning through new eyes. This is what it must feel like when I tell people I teach and love yoga who have never done it. A loving and gentle reminder to me what a true beginner feels like. In the land of Apple, I am pretty much as uneducated (always a choice) as it gets. A true beginner whose eyes have been cast wide open....

Do I now know how to use the damn thing? A bit better than before and I will continue to learn and explore on a daily basis. Not just how to use my phone, but to view this beautiful world through childlike eyes and wonder. Learning. Always learning. That is how we grow.

What would you like to learn??? Pole-dancing (check), drumming (check) and the list goes on....Your turn.:)

With Love, Denise