November 19

I came across a reddit TIL post that talked about how the QWERTY keyboard is just kind of arbitrary. The post mentioned other keyboard layouts that are more thought out. One in particular caught my eye - the Colemak keyboard. I started to wonder if I could learn this new keyboard layout, and if it could make me faster at typing. After a whopping 5 minutes of debating in my head, and encouraged by work boredom, I figured "why not", and added that keyboard layout to my Mac.

I started taking typing lessons. The process of learning the new layout was enjoyable...unusually enjoyable. I wondered why something as stupid, unecessary, and meaningless as learning a new keyboard could bring me so much joy. The answer, I realized, was because I was focusing 100% of my concentration on striking the correct keys. This realization in turn made me learn three things about myself that I had never considered before:

• Learning is meditative - When I learn things for the very first time, I don't think about anything except that one thing I'm learning. I don't think about what I need to get done that day, or how long I've been learning, or the stressors in my life, or anything. All of my attention is on the task at hand.
• I like the things I like because they require lots of attention - Many of the things I enjoy doing require deep levels of concentration, and are usually the only thing I focus on as I'm doing them. Coding, playing video games, playing instruments, making things with my hands, writing, etc., are a few that come to mind. Each of them is quite hard to do while thinking about something else. In the past I've looked for a common thread between my hobbies and have now realized that the level of attention required by each is the commonality.
• I give up on learning things when they no longer require my full attention - My unwillingness to stick with new hobbies is something that's been bothering me lately. I get...okay...at them, and never continue to work at them. They become one more thing that makes me a self-identified jack of all trades. I now see that the reason I stop improving on the skill is because once I get good enough to do the skill and think about other things simultaneously, the skill is no longer enjoyable (and perhaps no longer useful as a meditative shortcut).

I really feel that what I've uncovered is a major revelation. In one random distraction I realized and answered so many things about myself. I want to tap into my excitement, share it with others, and keep learning things. This website is what all of that has amounted to so far. I don't know what I want it to be yet, but I do know that I don't want my momentum to die out. I figured it was best to simply start something, see where it takes me, and learn as I go...