Always learning

I think it's safe to say that I'm constantly learning new things and re-learning ones that I probably shouldn't have to re-learn. There are general lessons that present themselves frequently: things like "don't be an asshole," or "be thankful for what you have," or "you never know when you will die." That kind of stuff is persistent, and I could probably list a million of those lessons, but it's kind of pointless. When it comes to how to live, or the way a person should act, or how to be yourself, I think everyone has to learn in their own way and at their own pace. Each day reveals some nugget of truth that one can choose to apply or disregard, and I'm constantly struggling to grasp the lessons that will really improve my life.

Anyway, let's leave that heavy shit aside for today. I want to explore the specific skills and tasks that have brought me genuine learning this year, because I think there are a lot of them. My new job and other changes in my life have directly contributed to my learning, and I want to take stock. Even when I failed at completing a task or when I had to adapt a skill to my own abilities instead of learning it the "correct" way, I feel like some genuine learning took place. So here are a few new skills I picked up in 2012:

- Reviewing vinyl records for sound quality alone; not based on artistic merit but pressing quality only

- Running a Kickstarter campaign

- Filing for 501c3 nonprofit status (on something of a hiatus; I consider this one to be mostly a failure, but damn I had to learn a lot to even attempt it)

- Booking and managing shows and other events; I've always played a lot of shows but resisted taking ownership of them - this is still challenging, but sometimes I actually enjoy it!

- Using garageband to record podcasts, mix songs, etc.

- Using a Roland sampler (like the one pictured above) - mostly for Golden Moses recordings/shows

- Setting up and managing a bank account for a nonprofit organization

- Being the director for a nonprofit organization (!! - this is still totally scary and overwhelming at times)

- Negotiating promotion deals / trades with sponsors, labels, businesses etc. (still want to get better at this, but every experience helps me improve)

- Editing photos/images on a computer (again, a long way to go on this one, but I expect to learn more)

- Setting up and managing band accounts on MFT (believe it or not I largely left this to others in my band in the past)

- The entire process of finding and purchasing a house (including mortgage, inspection, etc., don't even want to think about all of it, but it required lots of personal growth)

- How to navigate a constantly changing/growing work environment (SmallBox is innovative and pretty fast-paced; Jeb always keeps me alert and ready for new challenges)

- How to take some time for myself and do almost nothing (maybe some reading, TV, or whatever; but really, being completely unproductive for a couple hours is exactly what I need to do)

- Managing a calendar (actually, multiple calendars; not saying I'm great at it, but definitely learning)

- Scheduling time for creative pursuits (used to just write and record music whenever I wanted; life now requires me to be much more proactive about making time for music and art)

- Learning how to play Backgammon (and a few other games; my wife and I try to play a game of some sort at least once a week, just to hang out together; usually ends up being Tetris, but also cards, chess, backgammon, Yahtzee, etc)

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This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox 

Today’s prompt: What new things did you learn this year?