Skills to Start

My usual trials consist of trying a particular hobby or habit, but so far this year, I’ve been giving myself a lot of freedom with only a broad theme. For this trial, I’m trying to learn new skills of any and all kind. Little did I know, I’d end up in a phase of burnout while the world started to become a little crazy. Even still, I’m working to learn what I can, while not forcing this trial to derail me from other more important projects.

Making a List

Getting started, I made a list of a handful of things I’d like to learn. This list was formed from anything that came to mind. My intention in this trial was to kick back and have fun, so I figured I’d just let loose.

The types of skills I’ve written down are broad and cover all types of activities. There are mental skills, dexterous tricks, and even expertise in specific areas or tasks.

While having a breadth of options to choose from seemed to be the strategy for picking up new things, the lack of focus was detrimental to doing so.

Focus, Focus, Focus

To find some focus, I started with the one thing on the list that I could start with little research or materials. I found what I thought was perfect and surprisingly relevant to the task. The Kuji In are a series of nine hand gestures used as a meditation practice. Where I first learned of these was this video discussing the inspiration used of the hand symbols in Naruto. Extremely nerdy I know. I was nice being able to just find a video showing the signs and then practicing them. It was a good exercise to just start something.

With one win under my belt, I turned to a different YouTube channel, with the focus all on learning new skills. Looking through Mike Boyd’s videos, I found a few that might be fun.

I’ve started learning the card spring, shuffling playing cards from one hand to another. It’s a fun trick that has been a good challenge so far. My favorite part is the little moments of progress. Going from scattering the cards all over the floor to shooting a few cards into my hand, to only THEN having the rest fall on the floor has been inspiring.

In all seriousness, breaking apart the skill has been a fun way to learn. There’s a lot more hand dexterity and strength required than I first thought. I’ve actually felt muscle fatigue in my hands after a few minutes of attempts.

Practice Makes Perfect

In order to develop these areas I’m lacking, I’ve been using a small portion of the deck rather than the whole thing. Rather than suffer the aforementioned scattering of cards over and over, I can usually get a small spring with ten or so cards. My hands are getting a slight workout from the quality reps, and I’m getting a feel for controlling the flow of cards. Letting them slide out one at a time is the goal, allowing the

The thing I really like about this skill, is I can practice while relaxing. After a pretty long day, I found myself binging Twitch stream. I decided I should do something productive. Luckily, it’s easy to watch TV and shuffle cards at the same time.

With one week down, I’m trying not to take this too seriously. I have a few other things I’m trying to work on and want to keep this trial relatively light-hearted. Still continuing to practice and learn when and where I’m able will be key!