I’m not a doggy person, so I’m not sure if the adage ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is true for the canine race, but it is most often used when referring to humans. Whilst there may be numerous examples demonstrating the truth of the saying, I believe in a lot of cases there is an element of choice. There is certainly resistance amongst many older (and younger) people to accept or adapt to change and new information, or to learn new skills. Furthermore, those who believe there is nothing new they need or want to know are numerous.
I can only speak with certainty from my own experience and say that I have been learning all 62 years of my life and I continue to do so. I can’t guess at which age someone might be considered an ‘old dog’ (it will vary according to the age of the observer), so I’ll start in my mid-thirties, which seemed ancient to me when I was a teenager. With no building experience, I learnt how to build with stone using traditional lime mortar; at forty, after a late diagnosis of Lyme disease, I had to learn how to adjust from being a workaholic to someone who had to pace themselves and accept I couldn’t do all the things I felt or believed needed to be done. I continue, like many others, to learn new ways of living with chronic illness.
I then taught myself how to make wooden jewellery, manage a website, organise and set up stalls at craft fairs and festivals; despite dyspraxia, I learnt a set of Tai-chi with 108 moves (admittedly this took several years).
My most difficult learning journey was returning to education at the age of 58 to study for a degree in Creative Writing. Although I’d already written two novels, I struggled with the challenges of applying myself to the psychological rigours of the academic world. Alien concepts such as literary criticism and theory (who needs to understand post-structuralism, narratology or new historicism?), marketing, digital publishing and creative non-fiction – I won’t say I conquered them, but I certainly poked them in the eye. Help in the shape of three marvellous tutors and my fellow students of all ages enabled me to endure. In the end, I got a first-class honours degree at the age of 62.
But I don’t think I’m special or gifted.
What has helped me learn new things? Qualities that are available to everyone: determination, perseverance and the want or willingness to learn. I do not deny that some things are really hard to learn, and a lot of them I have no desire to attempt (it’s probably too late for me to become a brain surgeon, and anyway I don’t think I could cope with poking around in the goo).
Am I an old dog yet? Not as far as learning new things I hope. I plan to continue learning for the rest of my life.
Everyone I meet has the potential to teach me something, even if it’s how to tolerate their behaviour (or not). I am now learning how to be a grandparent, which is proving a lot easier than being a parent.
I’ll admit to having some resistance to new technology when I can see it as something I don’t need, it doesn’t solve a problem or it does harm to people or the planet. It doesn’t mean I’m incapable of learning.
I’m not saying everyone can learn anything and everything they want to if they just put their minds to it. Choices may be limited by circumstances or by physical or mental conditions, but there will always be something people can learn if they really want to, whatever their age, by tapping into their determination and, where appropriate, finding the right teacher.
I once met an elderly woman at a yoga workshop able to do headstands who told me she started learning yoga at the age of 70. Maybe I should add this to my bucket list…
Many people when faced with adverse circumstances, disabilities or family and societal resistance have proven these barriers can be overcome.
With eyes and mind open, every day offers learning opportunities, it need not be a creative or practical skill or academic knowledge; it could be something about a colleague or friend or how some aspect of your personality that is holding you back or that you can actually get things cheaper than on Amazon (The Evil Empire), and waiting an extra day or two for delivery isn’t torture but a lesson in patience…
Geoff King 