What I Learned Without Trying

My son, who has been trying to help me with a topic for today's blog, keeps launching into songs and riffs I didn't even know he knew.  Which has made me start thinking about all the things I have tried to learn, and all the things I have learned without trying.  I mean, we all spend a large part of our lives taking classes and going for training, watching tutorials and reading how-to books.  But how many of the things we know well did we learn that way?
 
For me, the "learned without trying" skills far outnumber the ones I have learned from books and classes.  I know how to AD because I have watched some of the best, and I have watched how my work affects the other members of my team. I have learned to edit by seeing what I like--what makes me cringe and what makes me cry, getting notes from producers and then trusting my gut.  I know how to parent, at least some days, by listening to my kids, and I know how to write because, well, because of all of the above, plus a good start from my high school English teachers.
 
The point here is, while we can try to take every course that's out there, try to prepare for every possible scenario, and try to prep our kids for every test they have, so many of the things we learn, as children and as grownups--often the most important things--come not from what we try to learn, but from our just being open to and observant of the world and people around us.  So the next time I ask my son what he learned today, perhaps I will be thinking about something he observed out the school bus window.  And the next time I beat myself up about all the classes I haven't taken and the books I haven't read, I'll remember the number of things I've learned every day--without even trying.