I suffer from an affliction which I once read all teachers (yes I used to be one) suffer from; “premature explanation”. This is something you can easily verify by asking any of my students, children or friends and which regular readers will already know! As such, you’ll need to indulge me in a bit of some explanation, premature or otherwise, to lead in to today’s story. I guess you have the option to just skip ahead but I think the lead in is fun and informative as well. I am privileged to have managed to retain and nurture a child-like insatiable curiosity and therefore almost everything and anything fascinates me. I suspect it is a result of this that I love learning so much and everything about the learning process. Every time I find something I don’t understand, or something new or something that frustrates me because it doesn’t work the way I thought it would or should, I ask myself “What is this trying to teach me?” and try to turn it into a learning moment. I often think of this along the lines of the great Buddhist saying “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I’ve found this to be more profoundly true every day, and therefore I try to be in a state of constant learning readiness so I can that “ready student” and have “teachers” appear in my life on a continuous basis. As this next story will show these teachers come in all shapes and forms. This learning readiness is also something I work on as a personal goal to increase the velocity, density and quality of my learning. All part of my trying to, as Doug Engelbart so nicely put it, “Getting better at getting better”. Above and beyond the learning, or perhaps just part and parcel of it, I find that if I maintain this constant state of openness and readiness almost any and every person, place, thing, or event can become a muse to inspire me further in what seems like a constant cycle of creativity and curiosity. While exhausting at times this has proven to be extremely valuable and effective for me and I hope that by sharing some of my experiences you too will find great value within. A recent example and the point (finally) of this article is a recent run in I had with a lobster. Actually the initial little grain of sand which acted as the irritant to stimulate this little oyster of learning (I’ll stop with the analogies soon, maybe) was planted near the beginning of my voyage when I was reading a book I can highly recommend called “Crazy by Design”. Those who know me will understand my attraction to the book on several levels by just the title alone, but it was also given to me by a fellow sailor, friend and Autodesk colleague, Maurice Conti because the author is his incredible father, Ugo Conti. (and you should meet his mother!) In the book, Ugo recounts a tale of one of his run ins with a lobster and makes a note in doing so about how lobsters need to continuously shed their hard exoskeleton on a regular basis to enable them to grow. I guess I kind of intuitively knew this but reading it here piqued my curiosity and lodged in the recess of my brain (I’ve got lots of them) and has been growing ever since. The other day, when I was tying up my dingy upon my arrival in Levuka, the original capital city of Fiji, a sudden change of color below in the amazingly clear water under the dock caught my attention. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be an enormous lobster that I would estimate was over 18 inches or 45cm long. Although this one had no claws, as is common in many parts of the Pacific the lobsters and throughout Fiji, it was still a formidable sight and I quickly put on my snorkeling gear (always with me) and spent about ten minutes floating above and just marveling as he moved slowly around the coral and rocks below the dock. Best of all though for me, and hopefully for you, this finally provided the motivational muse I needed to write up my long festering thoughts on how I think we can learn from lobsters or at least what I’ve learned. First some of the basic facts about lobsters, straight out of their Wikipedia entry, that are relevant to the learning Ieap they inspired within me. Lobsters facts:
• must molt, shed their hard protective exoskeleton, in order to grow
• eat their shed skin after molting
• Continue to grow throughout their lives
• it is not unusual for a lobster to live for more than 100 years
• May exhibit “negligible senescence” in that they can effectively live indefinitely barring injury, disease or capture
• Largest one caught in Nova Scotia Canada 20.15kg/44.4lbs While each of these are pretty fascinating it was the first point about their needing to constantly shed their protective hard out shells and replace them with new ones by excretions. As I looked into this further I learned that as the pressure caused by their internal growth increases, they break out of and shed their current shell and secrete a new one. However they are very smart or Mother Nature is in that before they secrete their new exoskeleton they puff themselves up with their environment of sea water so that the new shell will be large enough to allow for further growth. Otherwise they would be in an almost continuous process of shed/secrete and have time for nothing else. This process continues their whole life in a cycle of growth, molt old, puff up, secrete new, live, rinse and repeat. As per the other pretty cool lobster fact above, lobsters can live for a VERY long time, potentially indefinitely, if we don’t catch and eat them first (which I must admit to doing many times. How cool is all this?! The leap this sparked in my synapses was to use this as metaphorical model for life and learning. Think about it, they are growing constantly, just as we are too I hope but they also need to have some limits and some protection as they do so. But these limits start to become too restrictive at a point and become a hindrance rather than a help, so they get rid of the limiting protective shell surrounding them and create a new one. Sound familiar? The key for me is the transition from one shell to the next. Firstly when they shed their old shell they must take the risk of being “naked” and very vulnerable to their potentially hostile outside world. Secondly, they puff themselves up to ensure the new shell will be a bit bigger than their current needs require and allow for their continued growth. I’ve been thinking about this from multiple perspectives for my own personal growth, as a parent for the growth of my children, as a friend and a teacher for the growth of those around me. It seems to be so rich with lessons we can take away from it and hence this article. The need for example to take the risk of shedding the similarly protective shells I think we all tend to erect around ourselves. Over time these become very hard and very secure. Some find this very comforting and comfortable and are tempted to leave well enough alone and continue to live life as is. I get this; being comfortable and secure feels good and we need to have protection and perhaps some limits to help us grow. And I get that the alternative is very scary; to open yourself up, to step outside your bounds of familiarity and comfort, to do something new and different, to be vulnerable to the unknown. Yet to remain comfortably ensconced within the shell we have created for ourselves means that we can’t change, can’t grow and can’t learn. For me that means I’m just existing not living and that’s an even scarier alternative! As I learn and grow I feel the pressure build and feel restricted and suffocating so I blow up my perfectly strong and secure current shell and bust out in all my naked ignorance and innocence in an attempt to continue my own growth and learning. Like the lobster I’ve learned that I need to create a new shell with the sufficient protection I need in order to grow further. Additionally important though I need to use my current environment of my dreams, my ideas, my creativity and my self-confidence to “puff” myself up a bit and ensure that my new shell fits just right. For as with the lobster it is important to make my new shell neither too big such that I become lost or unwieldy, yet neither too small so as to prematurely restrict my continued growth. By doing so I ensure my new shell will serve me well for my next leg of life’s journey before I need to blow it up and continue my growth. I also take note of the high degree of reuse and self-sufficiency as more lessons to learn from lobsters. They eat their old shells to provide some of the materials and they use their overall environment of sea water to puff themselves up to just the right size and shape for the new shell they are creating. Hopefully we too reuse the lessons and surroundings of old as part of the fodder and nourishment we need to create the new. And note as I did that lobsters do this all themselves, not relying on others to do it for them. Perhaps the key takeaway from all of this for me though is how it helps me continue to see everything as “permanently temporary”. Yes, I still love a good oxymoron and still find them to so often capture so much truth. In this case the notion of regarding everything as infinitely temporary helps me think of change as a continuum rather than fixed stages or even cycles. I don’t for example think about how long any given “shell” of mine will last. I’ve learned I won’t ever know when it is time to shed one and create another. The worse thing I can do is to try to make one last longer than it should and miss out on opportunities to grow in new directions and rates. As you may have previously read here quite often, I’ve learned to use serendipity as my guide in life and if a new opportunity surprisingly presents itself I do a kind of continuous triangular triage between my head, my heart and my gut to decide which ones to follow and then shed my shells as necessary to go after them. Like the lobster, I hope to have my own version of that “negligible senescence” I noted in the initial lobster fact list where they can effectively live indefinitely barring injury, disease or capture. All this of course fits quite perfectly with my equally oxymoronic philosophy of planning as if I’ll live forever and living as if each day is my last. Not that I expect to or even want to literally live forever or die tomorrow, but I do want to have a kind of learning immortality such that I learn and grow for as ever long as I may be privileged to live, be that a few more seconds or a few more centuries. I hope that you too will find some valuable lessons in learning and life from lobsters. Now can someone please pass the butter?! Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
Aboard s/v Learnativity
17 01.511 S, 177 18.326E
off SW corner of Yaqueta Island, Fiji
Email: wayne.hodgins@gmail.com
Email @ sea: whodgins@ocens.net
FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/wayne.hodgins
Learnativity blog: www.learnativity.typepad.com
OCOT blog: http://waynehodgins.typepad.com
Skype: whodgins
Twitter: WWWayne
Sat phone texting: send short 140 character Text msgs via Email to: 881632510270@msg.iridium.com
• must molt, shed their hard protective exoskeleton, in order to grow
• eat their shed skin after molting
• Continue to grow throughout their lives
• it is not unusual for a lobster to live for more than 100 years
• May exhibit “negligible senescence” in that they can effectively live indefinitely barring injury, disease or capture
• Largest one caught in Nova Scotia Canada 20.15kg/44.4lbs While each of these are pretty fascinating it was the first point about their needing to constantly shed their protective hard out shells and replace them with new ones by excretions. As I looked into this further I learned that as the pressure caused by their internal growth increases, they break out of and shed their current shell and secrete a new one. However they are very smart or Mother Nature is in that before they secrete their new exoskeleton they puff themselves up with their environment of sea water so that the new shell will be large enough to allow for further growth. Otherwise they would be in an almost continuous process of shed/secrete and have time for nothing else. This process continues their whole life in a cycle of growth, molt old, puff up, secrete new, live, rinse and repeat. As per the other pretty cool lobster fact above, lobsters can live for a VERY long time, potentially indefinitely, if we don’t catch and eat them first (which I must admit to doing many times. How cool is all this?! The leap this sparked in my synapses was to use this as metaphorical model for life and learning. Think about it, they are growing constantly, just as we are too I hope but they also need to have some limits and some protection as they do so. But these limits start to become too restrictive at a point and become a hindrance rather than a help, so they get rid of the limiting protective shell surrounding them and create a new one. Sound familiar? The key for me is the transition from one shell to the next. Firstly when they shed their old shell they must take the risk of being “naked” and very vulnerable to their potentially hostile outside world. Secondly, they puff themselves up to ensure the new shell will be a bit bigger than their current needs require and allow for their continued growth. I’ve been thinking about this from multiple perspectives for my own personal growth, as a parent for the growth of my children, as a friend and a teacher for the growth of those around me. It seems to be so rich with lessons we can take away from it and hence this article. The need for example to take the risk of shedding the similarly protective shells I think we all tend to erect around ourselves. Over time these become very hard and very secure. Some find this very comforting and comfortable and are tempted to leave well enough alone and continue to live life as is. I get this; being comfortable and secure feels good and we need to have protection and perhaps some limits to help us grow. And I get that the alternative is very scary; to open yourself up, to step outside your bounds of familiarity and comfort, to do something new and different, to be vulnerable to the unknown. Yet to remain comfortably ensconced within the shell we have created for ourselves means that we can’t change, can’t grow and can’t learn. For me that means I’m just existing not living and that’s an even scarier alternative! As I learn and grow I feel the pressure build and feel restricted and suffocating so I blow up my perfectly strong and secure current shell and bust out in all my naked ignorance and innocence in an attempt to continue my own growth and learning. Like the lobster I’ve learned that I need to create a new shell with the sufficient protection I need in order to grow further. Additionally important though I need to use my current environment of my dreams, my ideas, my creativity and my self-confidence to “puff” myself up a bit and ensure that my new shell fits just right. For as with the lobster it is important to make my new shell neither too big such that I become lost or unwieldy, yet neither too small so as to prematurely restrict my continued growth. By doing so I ensure my new shell will serve me well for my next leg of life’s journey before I need to blow it up and continue my growth. I also take note of the high degree of reuse and self-sufficiency as more lessons to learn from lobsters. They eat their old shells to provide some of the materials and they use their overall environment of sea water to puff themselves up to just the right size and shape for the new shell they are creating. Hopefully we too reuse the lessons and surroundings of old as part of the fodder and nourishment we need to create the new. And note as I did that lobsters do this all themselves, not relying on others to do it for them. Perhaps the key takeaway from all of this for me though is how it helps me continue to see everything as “permanently temporary”. Yes, I still love a good oxymoron and still find them to so often capture so much truth. In this case the notion of regarding everything as infinitely temporary helps me think of change as a continuum rather than fixed stages or even cycles. I don’t for example think about how long any given “shell” of mine will last. I’ve learned I won’t ever know when it is time to shed one and create another. The worse thing I can do is to try to make one last longer than it should and miss out on opportunities to grow in new directions and rates. As you may have previously read here quite often, I’ve learned to use serendipity as my guide in life and if a new opportunity surprisingly presents itself I do a kind of continuous triangular triage between my head, my heart and my gut to decide which ones to follow and then shed my shells as necessary to go after them. Like the lobster, I hope to have my own version of that “negligible senescence” I noted in the initial lobster fact list where they can effectively live indefinitely barring injury, disease or capture. All this of course fits quite perfectly with my equally oxymoronic philosophy of planning as if I’ll live forever and living as if each day is my last. Not that I expect to or even want to literally live forever or die tomorrow, but I do want to have a kind of learning immortality such that I learn and grow for as ever long as I may be privileged to live, be that a few more seconds or a few more centuries. I hope that you too will find some valuable lessons in learning and life from lobsters. Now can someone please pass the butter?! Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
Aboard s/v Learnativity
17 01.511 S, 177 18.326E
off SW corner of Yaqueta Island, Fiji
Email: wayne.hodgins@gmail.com
Email @ sea: whodgins@ocens.net
FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/wayne.hodgins
Learnativity blog: www.learnativity.typepad.com
OCOT blog: http://waynehodgins.typepad.com
Skype: whodgins
Twitter: WWWayne
Sat phone texting: send short 140 character Text msgs via Email to: 881632510270@msg.iridium.com
HA! So in the end you ate the big lobster?! Well, he/she will give you lots of wisdom. I love reading your musings, Wayne, as they parallel what I am going through in my semi-retirement...the letting go of the shell in order to grow is most powerful coming out of a corporate environment, but keeping the same basic shape (which you didn't really describe, so I'll add here), and then puffing up is brilliant....I think I am trying to do that in my culminating (I think) career. Love reading the stuff...somehow I'll get on that Learnativity boat with you and share some reflections!
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