What Did You Learn Today?

When our children were in elementary school, we always had the “What did you learn in school today?” conversation around the dinner table. They would try to say, “Nothing,” but that just wasn’t an acceptable answer. After they got the idea that "Nothing" for a response wasn't going to fly in our house, my son and daughter knew they’d better be prepared with an answer, any answer, just so they could get on with their meal every single night.

Eventually our children grew up and flew the nest, but the question continued to ring in my head. “What did you learn today.” It was hard to come up with something at first, as I was used to asking the question, not answering. But then I started paying better attention to what I was doing. My husband is somewhat disabled, so lately I have had to learn how to do a lot of new things myself. For example, he has ALWAYS kept the gas tank full for me, and I’ll never forget how hard my son was laughing as he tried to talk me through my first time to fill-up at the gas station in many, many years.

But I need to learn new things for fun too. I think it’s important, especially as we age, that we keep our minds busy and learning new things. According to a study, learning new things can make older adults’ brains 30 years younger in just 6 weeks! Researchers have found that learning three new tasks simultaneously boosts mental power and protects against Alzheimer’s disease. Whoa! That would be a challenge!

But that is one of the benefits of our dulcimer-playing hobby. Some of you may be stuck in a rut … practicing and playing the same tunes year after year. I want to encourage you to pick out some new tunes … at least one new song a month. Learn to play it, and then memorize it. Or try experimenting with tunes in a new genre or on a new instrument. It will boost your self-confidence, tickle those brain cells, and you’ll have lots of fun at the same time.

Happy dulcimering,
Linda