Maybe I've been spending too much time around friends and family who are teachers or studying to be teachers, but I've been thinking a lot about a "growth mindset". I mean, it's basically the philosophy behind these posts, so it's not a giant leap to consider such a thing.
Basically, there's a difference between a "fixed" mindset and a "growth" mindset. Each is fairly self-explanatory, but a fixed mindset is when your internal dialogue says "I'm crap at that, and I'll never be any good at it". While a growth mindset would be more like "I'm crap at that right now, but I can improve with learning and practice".
Sure, it's might not be revolutionary in a lot of ways, but I associate it with the teachers I know as they often discuss it as the core philosophy behind modern teaching methods. As a philosophy and sociology student, it seems pretty sensible to think this way. The fundamentals behind a lot of the areas I've studied are grounded in the plasticity of human experience. However, it pays to focus on the idea a little more every now and then to remind ourselves what actually matters.
For as long as I can remember, I"ve always enjoyed winter more than summer. Perhaps it's due to my more solitary nature that is nurtured during winter as there's little demand for energy to be spent outside the comfort of home. Alternatively, I think that growing up in a tropical climate gave me as much sun and heat as I could ever want, so everything summer offers doesn't seem all that special to me.
As an aside, it's always funny to me when other people give me a hard time about preferring winter, because they assume so much from that one point. I often get told that I should go to the beach more, or enjoy the sunshine more, but I'm a bit beached out in reality. As a kid I was at the beach all weekend in the sun and the sea, which was a great time and a good place to be a kid. These days I'm not so interested because there are other experiences available to me that I haven't had as much time with.
This is common for a lot of things though and another reason why we should never make assumptions about other people. The other common thing I get told regularly is that I should travel more. While I don't disagree, as travel is always worthwhile, it's often said with the assumption that I've never been outside of my own community. In reality, I love living in a community at the moment because I've spent a good part of my childhood overseas and travelling.
Anyway, I digress from the whole growth mindset thing, but it does have something to do with the preferential treatment of seasons. While I still love winter and would rather rug up in the cold than strip down in the heat, my perspective is slowly shifting.
This year I've found myself looking forward to the warmer weather again because there are things that I'd like to accomplish, but I feel a bit held back by the weather. It has a lot to do with wanting to improve overall health and wellbeing, which is difficult in winter when all I want to do is stay inside where it's warm and dry.
I suppose that perspective has been fine up until now, but it's where the growth mindset comes into play, as I feel like I'm only holding myself back by maintaining preferences. The other way to talk about it is through mindfulness, which is a theory I'm more familiar with, but still strive to practice more conscientiously.
So there's room to learn how to love the warmer weather, without taking anything away from the cold. Often it seems like we can get caught up in the notion that we need to choose a preference when presented with two disparate options, which is short sighted at best.
I'd rather be enthusiastic and appreciative of the good in everything, which is a little bit "bleeding heart", but an entirely desirable state of being. I mean, why choose favouritism when you have the option to enjoy everything equally?! I think part of being content is seeing past the differences that we seek to rank one thing against another, and accepting and loving each thing for its own merits.
So I'm learning to look forward to the warm months ahead, rather than moan until winter arrives again. This time next year I want to be able to say that I made the most of each season and enjoyed whatever they brought to the table.
It doesn't even need to be anything profound, as simple happiness is still happiness after all. For example, one thing I love about warm/dry weather is being able to paint outdoors. It's been a while, but I used to roll out my drop sheet, throw down a canvas, and paint out in the fresh air and sunshine. It's a simple pleasure, but one that I would rather look forward to than endure.
I guess the point is that changing perspectives and embracing growth has its benefits that are only enhanced when recognised. Sometimes we just need to remember that a conscious decision to shift our mindset, can often be more powerful than simply waiting for it to happen naturally.
As I mentioned at the top, these posts are basically a result of pursuing a growth mindset and I think that it's mostly working so far. It might not seem like it from the doodles I post each week, or the fact that a good handful are posted late (like this one), but overall I can feel it working. At the very least, when I sit down to draw something these days I find it easier to be focused and the pen moves easily on the page.
Turns out that doing a thing regularly and with conscious intent, might actually pay off in the long term. Who'd've thunk it?