I imagine at this point you have an idea what to expect. if you need a refresh on any of the directions, as you know, they still exist nestled into the previous week’s lesson.

how are you feeling? have you noticed any shifts in your work, or even your day-to-day life?

…why have i pushed these skills, week after week? not only will they help with these lessons, but they are skills that can be adapted to help you in all aspects of your life.

through developing our stream-of-consciousness writing skills, we’re building a stronger connection to our own inner world. it can also subconsciously help strengthen our focus by forcing us to stay engaged in the task we’re working on and not get distracted. 

in exercising our ability to make associations we are utilizing our creative mind which can help us with problem solving IRL. by engaging in creative activities we allow our mind to play with new ways of thinking, which will inevitably bleed out into any form of problem solving: how to stack the dishes in the dishrack, how to organize a display for work, how to spend your sunday afternoon– it’s really amazing the subtle ways that practicing creativity can help us in seemingly unrelated and utilitarian ways.

the skill of trusting yourself (stop second guessing!) will be a lifelong adventure for some of us, but it helps us feel anchored into our sense of self and our values. trusting ourselves motivates us to take productive action, even when we are uncertain. it is a key skill for us to have as we move about the world– especially when there are so many predatory super-corporations who would love to profit off of you feeling listless or disconnected. 

and not allowing perfectionism to get in our way of taking action is another important skill for us to have so that we put in the hours of trying imperfectly to learn anything. there is so much information that is so easily accessible to us; it can be tempting to become an armchair expert on something without realizing that true expertise comes from hours of repetitive action– not reading everything about a topic on the internet. it really is a humbling fact. 

i had over a decade of plant experience before i worked with a youth farming non-profit, and even that didn’t save me from being just as awkward at bunching beets and carrots for market as any of the teens. and it wasn’t the experienced Farmer’s meticulous directions on how to do the task that helped me improve– but the weekly process of trying and failing to do it perfectly until the muscle memory was finally built up.