The beauty of doing

Life, learning, and DIY

Happy Friday, all. ~JRC

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Approx. 500 words; 3 minutes read time

Intuitively, we know that "doing" is learning. It's why kids play. Doing one activity helps us understand so many others. Tug o’ war, for example, is about pulling the other side over the line, and it's also about working in teams. Doing the dishes is cleaning up after a meal, as well as an exercise in keeping the peace. One a game, another a chore, but both "doing."

In doing, life becomes the teacher.

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Doing is not one way to learn - it's possibly the best way to learn. True, people learn differently: by seeing, by hearing, by reading/writing, or, of course, by doing. While some people can’t learn at all by hearing alone, others have to hear it to understand. And still others have to write it down or read it to learn. But doing seems to do it all - for all. Yes, studies show that hands-on experience (a.k.a., experimental learning) helps [almost] anyone understand better.

It seems that doers not only do more, but they also learn more.

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Doing prepares us for the future. When we do something ourselves, we gain an understanding of how the world works. These "packets of experience" we gather up over time. Tucked away in our brains, we hold onto them for later use. When a foreign task is at hand, we are prepared.

The more we have done, the more we can do. 

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Perhaps this message seems trite. It’s not all that insightful; learning by doing is quite intuitive, as stated in the intro. But rather than an epiphany, consider this essay a reminder. A reminder to think about the benefits of doing the next time you have the option to do or to do not.

Do It Yourself (DIY) is about taking charge of your life. It’s about self-reliance and all that good stuff Emerson wrote about. Why let others do something you could do yourself? And more importantly, why not do it yourself to better yourself?

Granted, there are times when the job requires a true expert. Dental work and some plumbing problems come to mind. The outcome in these scenarios is decidedly better when having someone else do it. So by all means, farm it out.

But what if it's a simple lack of experience holding you back? Or worse still, fear? And perish the thought - laziness?! To any and all of these, I wholeheartedly say, "suck it up, and Do It Yourself!"

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If you DIY, you might fail. But so what? Think of all you'll learn no matter what. Besides, there's also a good chance you won't fail. Imagine then how it will feel. There's nothing quite like pulling something off that you once thought impossible. 

A word of warning: do hedge your bets if you’re going to DIY. Some basic research is a must. Watch a how-to video or two, and skim (but don't read) the instructions. 

Then, delay no longer! Grab your tool, put on your PPE, and DO IT! 

Ahem. Well, you know what I mean.

Yes, DIY and surprise yourself. You will learn something new. I promise. Better still - and this is where doing gets interesting - you might want to do it again. Just because it's fun.

That's the beauty of doing.

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Until next time.

JRC