“Life-long learning” is a term that is well known to us. And, while Clark Moustakas did not use the following paragraph to specifically describe “life long learning”, in my opinion, his words brilliantly express the passion and fulfillment that can come from a mind open to discovery. I thought I would share his writing with you; I hope it pleasantly reminds you of an abundant source that is available to all of us.
What do you want to learn today? this week? this year? before your 100th birthday?
Enjoy your life long journey of learning!… the only way I can truly come to know things and people is to go out to them, to return again and again to them, to immerse myself completely in what is there before me, look, see, listen, hear, touch, from many angles and perspectives and vantage points, each time freshly so that there will be continual openings and learnings that will connect with each other and with prior perceptions, understandings, and future possibilities. In other words, I must immerse myself totally and completely in my world, take in what is offered without bias or prejudgment. I must pause and consider what my own life is and means, in conscious awareness, in thought, in reflection. I enter into my own conscious reflection and meditations, open and extend my perceptions between what is out there, in its appearance and reality, and what is within me in reflective thought and awareness, is in truth a wondrous gift of being human. But knowledge does not end with moments of connectedness, understanding and meaning. Such journeys open vistas to new journeys, within journeys, within journeys. This is perhaps the most telling reality of all, that each stopping place is but a pause in arriving at knowledge. Satisfying as it is, it is but the inspiration for a new beginning. Knowledge of appearances and reasoned inquiry are not the end of knowing. No scientific discovery is ever complete. No experience is ever finished or exhausted. New and fresh meanings are forever in the world and in us. When the connection is made and the striving comes alive again, the process begins once more. There is no limit to our understanding or sense of fulfillment, no limit to our knowledge or experience of any idea, thing or person. We need only to come to life again regarding some puzzlement and everything crystallizes in and through and beyond it. The whole process of being within something, being within ourselves, being within others, and correlating these outer and inner experiences and meanings is infinite, endless and eternal. This is the beauty of knowledge and discovery. It keeps us forever awake, alive, and connected with what is and with what matters in life.
from:
Phenomenological Research Methods by Clark Moustakas (1994) p. 65
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