Learning

When I was young, I viewed learning as a permanent process.  You started off not knowing something, learned it, and then knew it.  It was nice.  An irreversible process that was automatically worth the time you put into it.  I never studied for tests.  After all, if I knew the material like I was supposed to, the test wouldn't be any problem at all.  Studying almost felt like cheating.  It was a pleasant, if erroneous, view of learning. 
Now, I realize that learning is far more of a process than a stage.  If I learn something, I learn it temporarily.  I can guarantee it will be faster to learn the next time, and the next time, and the next time.  If I use a tidbit often enough, I'll eventually come to use it readily, like simple addition or multiplication.  And if I don't use it for a while, I will have to relearn the subject before I can build on it again.
And in order to stay up-to-date in any scientific, teaching, or engineering field, people have to continually learn new things and use what they know, or else their knowledge will stagnate, slowly festering into vague recollections of ideas once known. 
On the one hand, this is a saddening revelation.  The idea that nothing that I learn can I simply know forever is a humbling one.  But on the other hand, it also promises a lifetime of learning ahead of me, a prospect I'm certainly looking forward to. 
There are few things as thrilling as a brief epiphany, that moment in which previously unrelated ideas click into place, completing a section of that puzzle of learning I have been painstakingly building over the course of weeks, months, or even years.  And pressing the boundaries of that puzzle, asking about those pieces right on the fringe, can be an incredible experience.  The process of finding the right question to ask, finding the right place and time to ask it, and finally finding a new piece of the puzzle to snap into place, is a revealing, engaging, and exciting one.  I hope I never tire of it. 

Today, I am thankful for family members and reading good books while curled up in a cozy chair.