By Michele Wojciechowski
Beginning Again...and Again...and Again
In his new book, 'Beginners,' Tom Vanderbilt shows that you’re never too old to learn something new When I texted a friend and said I had been taking drum lessons at age 50 and a year later was about to play a song with a band in a local two-day fundraising music festival in Maryland called Stanstock, he texted back one comment: LOL. While some folks made jokes about it being a midlife crisis, more were supportive. One said she was inspired by me and began taking guitar lessons, which she had wanted to do her entire life. The adage, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" has worked against people for ages. But not anymore. Bestselling author and journalist Tom Vanderbilt, in his book titled "Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning," tackles lots of new activities such as chess, riding a surfboard, singing in a choir in Manhattan called Britpop, learning to juggle, drawing, helping to craft his replacement wedding ring (he lost the other one surfing) and more. Vanderbilt, 52, spoke with Next Avenue about what it's like being a beginner. What follows is a version of our interview, edited for length and clarity. Next Avenue: What was the impetus for you to start writing this book? Tom Vanderbilt: The short version is that I suddenly found myself as a parent taking my daughter to all kinds of things -- classes, after-school activities. [She was a fouryear-old at the time, now she is eleven.] I was hiring, when I could, coaches or tutors because I wanted her to have the experience of learning as many things as possible to be able to dabble and -- without the pressure to be good at everything -- to be good at these things. I found myself sitting on the sidelines. I was wondering: Was I sending her the wrong message in terms of being a good model because I was telling her how important it was for her to learn all these new things? Because when she looked at me, what was I actually learning? I was sort of doing a few things I had always done, and I was, of
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course, busy working and being a parent. But I wasn't really living this life that I was telling her was so important. So, I thought it would be interesting to try to change that — sometimes with her, sometimes just on my own. That was the basic impetus, and it began with one small thing. From there, it grew.
just so portable and easy to access. I don't need special equipment. I don't need to go somewhere. The conditions don't have to be right. I would love to be able to surf every day, but I don't live exactly on the beach. It takes a bit of effort, and then the conditions have to be right in the ocean, which doesn't always happen. There are a lot of people who, especially in our age group and older, are apprehensive about trying something new. Part of it is because they know they're going to start out and be bad at it. Why would you suggest that people still put themselves out there to be beginners, whether they're good at something or not?
Tom Vanderbilt and his daughter playing chess
Did it begin with chess or something else? Chess. This was something my daughter wanted to genuinely play. She was curious about it. I had never really gotten around to playing, and I tried to pick it up myself. But I didn't feel confident that I would be the best person to teach her or teach myself. I like to learn from experts. There were all kinds of benefits. I was able to appreciate how hard it might be for her, because I was also going through that myself. She could see me struggling with this thing, and maybe that would encourage her to try harder because it turns out adults also struggle. They don't just magically know everything. What activities are you still engaged in? It's a combination of what are the things we genuinely enjoy doing, and what are the easiest things to do. Not necessarily easy in terms of skill level, but just easy to actually find the time for, or the opportunity for. I think singing was the thing that resonated the most because it just makes me feel good, and I enjoy doing it. But then it's
Sometimes it's easier said than done, but to really try to approach it like a child. One of the reasons children learn so particularly well is that they have such a low-pressure environment in which they learn. They have a very supportive audience. They're encouraged all the way. But we learn these key skills that we have, as humans, in such a natural, immersive, low-pressure environment — like walking or talking. Of course, we're bad at them in the beginning, but we get better. Just expect that failure is going to be part of your process, and failure represents learning. If you already knew how to do it, you wouldn't be learning. Another thing that helped me was to do classes where there were other beginners, because then you felt a certain camaraderie. You could see other people making mistakes. Seeing other beginners — knowing that you're not alone — also provides a great source of motivation. Taking singing lessons was great fun, but once I joined the choir, I felt like the stakes had become higher. I now had certain responsibility, not just to myself, but to other people to try to do it well. So that encouraged me to practice more. The River Region’s 50+ Lifestage Magazine
