I recently read Manage Your Day-to-Day
I don’t make art for a living, but the chapter inspired me to contemplate what activities I do to feed my creativity, sharpen my mind, and hone my voice. I’m in a rather busy patch with work at the moment, so it surprised me to realise that I actually spend time every single day on such activities, without consciously choosing it.
One of the things I spend a fair bit of time on could be referred to as “unnecessary education”. I’m not talking about professional development here (though I do plenty of that, too), but learning for the sheer joy of learning. The world is an endlessly fascinating place, when you start looking for things that might catch your interest. While the skills and knowledge from this kind of learning don’t have any direct relation to my work, I’m sure that deep in my subconscious they spark creative ideas, and make me a better thinker and writer.
Here are some ideas for “unnecessary education” activities that you can do in and around Melbourne.
Learn a new skill
- Visit Rayner’s Orchard and take a fruit bottling workshop
- Drive into the country and learn how to make sourdough bread at Redbeard historic bakery (and while you’re there, try the amazing gingernut biscuits and … well… anything else at all that catches your eye, because every single thing is absurdly delicious)
- Spend $16 and take one of Laneway Learning’s many varied classes
Take a tour
- Learn a bit about art on the NGV’s free tour
- Take a highlights tour of Melbourne Museum
- Learn about the history of the Royal Exhibition Building
Read a book
- The Lost Painting
, a fascinating narrative that follows the decades-long search for a missing Caravaggio masterpiece.
- The Etymologicon
, a very-often-humorous look at how words in the English language have come to have the meanings they now hold.
- One Summer
, a history of events in the USA in 1927. (After reading this book, I’ve become firmly convinced of two things: America’s 1927 summer was the most interesting season in just about all of history, and Bill Bryson is at his best when writing about anything other than himself.)
, a fascinating narrative that follows the decades-long search for a missing Caravaggio masterpiece.
, a very-often-humorous look at how words in the English language have come to have the meanings they now hold.
, a history of events in the USA in 1927. (After reading this book, I’ve become firmly convinced of two things: America’s 1927 summer was the most interesting season in just about all of history, and Bill Bryson is at his best when writing about anything other than himself.)
