Do you have a long held dream of learning how to do something that feels like it’s too late in life or too hard to learn?
Maybe it’s playing the piano, sewing your own clothes, learning French, baking bread from scratch, painting landscapes, or woodworking.
I guess it’s probably time to buy the ultra-advanced gluten free cookbook I’ve had sitting in my shopping cart for almost a year. Because I realized, I have a lot more time to learn and so do you.
If you’re somewhere around middle age, I have good news for you:
you likely have 30, 40, even 50 years ahead of you.
That’s enough time to not just learn something new — it’s enough time to get good at it.
It’s easy to think of learning as something reserved for the young. But the truth is, starting later often brings gifts you can’t access earlier: patience, perspective, and the ability to appreciate the slow, satisfying process of getting a little better, one tiny step at a time.
The secret is to start incredibly small.
If you want to sew your own skirt, start by sewing a pillowcase.
If you want to play piano, start by mastering “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” with one hand.
If you want to learn a new language, start with 10 phrases you could use on a trip.
And know this:
You don’t have to monetize it. You don’t have to perform it. You don’t have to “be good.”
It’s enough that it brings you joy, pride, or simply a bit of “flow” — that delicious feeling when you lose track of time because you’re so absorbed in what you’re doing.
Some skill ideas to spark your imagination:
Playing a musical instrument
Knitting, crocheting, or sewing
Drawing or watercolor painting
Building furniture
Learning a new language
Gardening, growing or preserving your own food
Cooking or baking new cuisines
Dancing — any kind
Photography or video editing
Creative writing or storytelling
How to start:
Pick one tiny project you can finish in a few hours.
Watch a free YouTube tutorial or sign up for a short online course.
Find a beginner group or community — online or local.
Give yourself permission to be hilariously bad at first. That’s part of the magic.
The time will pass anyway. Imagine looking back 5 years from now and realizing you stuck with it — imperfectly, messily, but joyfully. Imagine what you could create.
It’s not too late.
It’s exactly the right time.
Inspirational photo of my first whack at Sashiko mending on my favorite jeans and the day I learned that I’m an ambidextrous hand sewer!
