I am one of those people who loves to learn new things. Every month, I make sure to set aside time to take a new online course. Most of the time they have something to do with publishing or writing, but I also take a lot of online courses that have nothing to do with either of those things. This isn’t something new for me.

Back before there was an online course or video tutorial for everything like there is now, I taught myself how to knit. I decided one day that I wanted to learn so I found a book and I read it from cover to cover several times. I’ll never be a master knitter. While I like to knit on occasion it’s not something I’m passionate about or something I want to do all the time. It’s the same for embroidery and cross-stitch. I wanted to learn and occasionally I’ll decide to take on a project, but it’s not something I want to do all the time.

There are other things I’ve learned because I thought it might be interesting only to realize I didn’t really enjoy it all. I’ve also tried other things I was only mildly interested in to start with and then realized it was something I actually liked doing.

Last year, I started a list of things I’d like to try. I’m always adding to it and marking things off as I go. About half of the things on my list at the moment are related to homesteading since Hubby and I plan to homestead once we move. There are skills I already have thanks to growing up in the country and watching/helping my mom and grandmother doing things like gardening and canning. Although, I’m the first to admit I did not inherit their green thumbs.

Thankfully, Hubby has his own green thumb because when it comes to plants I can harvest with the best of people but keeping them alive is beyond me. Case in point: I decided to grow green onions in my kitchen window. Three times I planted and nurtured them and three times they were dead within a month. Hubby got tired of seeing me fail so he took over and a year later his green onions are still going strong. So I think I’ll leave the gardening to him.

One of the big things on my list at the moment is to learn to use a sewing machine and learning to quilt. I can sew by hand, but I’ve never mastered the use of a sewing machine. In fact, the last time I tried I got it so tangled up it took forever to get it untangled. I know it’s going to be a challenge but I also think it’s a useful skill to have; both sewing and quilting.

I have a few other things like learning to make soaps and lotions that I’d also like to learn. I have very sensitive skin and several allergies that make it hard for me to find products that don’t make me break out in hives, itch, or have trouble breathing, so making my own makes the most sense. And it will be cheaper than having to buy handmade soaps like I do now.

Of course, those things will have to wait until we after we move, in the mean time I’m learning new programs and skills that will help with publishing. Things like creating vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator and designing an ebook in Adobe InDesign. I already know how to use InDesign since that’s the program I use to do print layout, but right now I use Sigil to design my ebooks. So I’m going to take some time to add that skill to my repertoire.

What about you? Do you like learning new things? If so, what is one thing you’d like to learn?