At the age of 30 I purchased my first road bike in Houston, Texas: skinny tires, no training wheels and clips. With reassurance from my trainer I began to pedal. Long after I could manage the straight-aways, clips caused me problems. Learning was a process.
A similar mental block faces me with some bead stitches. This is what happens: I take a class. As a participant, I’m neither the fastest nor the slowest. However, I notice if I don’t pick up the project within a short period of time after class, it dies.
The learning process requires practice for perfection. Heck, it requires practice just to get by.
The slogan “Just do it” comes to mind, except it’s not that easy. All manner of objections arise. Once a project is shoved aside for any reason, it suffers. The longer it’s left undone, the more likely it is to live on as a UFO – unfinished object.
Solution? Act NOW to reinforce your learning. Take last week’s triangle earring project presented for members of the Bead Society of New Mexico.
Kudos to an instructor with a sense of humor. Her prep comments included this:
“The 3 spokes are herringbone and the main body is peyote. Don’t worry if these terms are not familiar to you, “stickie on top of” and “sew in-betweenie” are both acceptable terms in this class.
Self-taught, I know/knew nothing of herringbone. Opting out was not an option since I’d invited a friend. Despite reverse stitching (I hate to use the rip word) I completed one triangle. And another the next day.
To ensure I got it, I quickly repeated the pattern one more time.
My process is easy: 1. Pick the project; 2. Commit to it (no matter what); 3. Reinforce quickly and frequently. Here’s a secret: This three step system works for bike clips or triangle earrings or most anything.
Do you have a better learning process?
