Ancura Impara, Still Learning

Ancora Imparo, Still Learning the True Freedom

In a sketch of Father Time, Michelangelo inscribed beside a child’s carriage, “Still I learn.” This was nearing the end of this life, the great master, yet “Still I learn.”
Ancora Imparo, is a fantastic way to re-create your life and find the greatest freedom offered in life which is self expression and self acceptance. Still learning reminds me that first and foremost, I will make mistakes. Second, I can choose to learn from my mistakes even if it is one-thousand two hundred and twenty times I have done the same thing. Three, I am not limited in creativity , potential or possibility as “Still I Learn.” Fourth, it begins and ends with me.
When President John F. Kennedy said, we were going to put a man on the moon there were two kinds of reaction. There were the booer’s, statuses quo people, and the ooher’s, innovators and questioners. The booer’s are always with us and always will be. We don’t have a metal strong enough to withstand the pressures of outer space. We don’t have computers that can work the guidance system needed to make course corrections to direct us to the moon. No one has ever done such a thing.
The ooher’s on the other hand thought, what an idea, let’s make it happen. They went about creating metals strong enough and the computer’s large enough to get man to the moon. Every TV in America was set to watch what couldn’t be done. Today we are blessed by those same metals and computers. Yet today some believe the moon landing was faked.
Einstein wrote, “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.” Yet, time and time again we go at problems with the same worn out consciousness wondering why ideas are not generated. Today we face unbelievable fuel prices. In 1978 we had a gas shortage and what we thought at the time gas was high then. The ooher’s got excited, what can we learn, what new energy source can we develop? The booer’s said oil is what we know and need, we will never run out, let’s just drill more wells. Thirty years later the same old consciousness is urging us to do the same old thing.
Awakenings to new possibilities come to those who are still learning . Are we a work in progress or are we supposed to have all the answers by a certain age? Is it OK to have a change of mind or what is more important, are you willing to have a change of mind? This is where Ancora Imparo works, in willingness. It is never an age but rather a mind set.
I was fascinated to read in Rabbinical school students are urged to question even argue points within their teachings and teachers. During seminary one of my classmates was put on the “concerned list” because of his questioning and ideas. The same man is one of our leading innovators of how church is done and is a wonderful thought-provoking ministers.
Sadly, there are some religion that require non questioning. Their members are persuaded to not participate in anything that is not sanctioned by their church doctrine. Often people forget that doctrine came from someone else thinking out of the box of the old doctrine.
The great spiritual Truth teachers throughout history invite learning , questioning, and growing. They recognize that Truth is Truth known like a rose by many names yet still Truth. The other great teachers, innovators, and big thinkers all questioned what was and dreamed of what could be. We get to stand on their shoulders today. What kind of shoulders are we offering our next generation?
The word education has its roots in the idea of drawing out knowledge. Yet we still teach children in the same way many of us were taught. It is as if someone is trying to pour something into us rather than draw it out. Our children are dropping out of school at history breaking levels. These are not dumb kids. These are kids who have not been challenged to find their creativity and expression in the world. No wonder Michelangelo inscribed this saying near a child’s carriage. Possibly he saw the waste of great minds in his day as well. “Only those that risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T.S. Elliot
Begin Again! This is something I remind myself and teach often. Maybe you haven’t thought out of your box in a long time, begin today! There are many people who will help you in this learning process. Julia Cameron’s book, THE ARTIST WAY, will help facilitate opening your mind to the creative process.
Often people are scrambling for the newest and most rewarding investment they can make. Ironically the greatest investment we can make is in us. Allow learning to be a never-ending process. Francine Prose summed it up nicely, “You aim for what you want and if you don’t get it, you don’t get it, but if you don’t aim, you don’t get anything.”