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February Musing from Rebecca Crichton: Learning, Unlearning, Relearning

As should be clear from the title, learning is on my mind. Humans are learning animals, sharing that reality with the rest of the sentient world.

A number of years ago, NWCCA collaborated with Seattle University, offering a day of learning for seniors. At one of them, a neuroscientist taught something that has stayed with me – ­­the brain must forget as it ages. That leaves space for things that need to be done and remembered in the present. The brain remembers what it decides is necessary to remember.

As I process the changing world around me, from the political to the personal, I keep asking myself what I need to Learn going forward, what I need to Unlearn in terms of past habits and knowledge, and what I need to Relearn. Or reframe, one of my favorite words and signature behaviors.

My colleague Ruth Neuwald Falcon started her Corona Support Blog in 2020. I have contributed to it over the past years and just wrote Unlearning Helplessness in response to our present situation. (Ruth is inviting others to contribute their reflections and thoughts as well) I write about how we can be taught to give up on learning something new when we decide we can do nothing to change the circumstances we are in.

For more eloquent words about how we survive and continue to learn, read Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankel. That seminal book, born out of his concentration camp experience during the Holocaust, definitely offers some perspectives for today’s world.

 
February’s essay, Realigning to What is Key, relates to our capacity for self-reflection in order to take action and make decisions in the future. Once I started thinking of applying the Re prefix to verbs in my life, I was surprised and challenged by the opportunities that showed up.
 
Check out our website to see the new feature we are adding, What We Learned. I know many remarkable and wise elders. Over the coming months, I will invite some of them to reflect on their lifetime of learning. We benefit each other when we share and value insights from our lives. Dr. Alan Chun kicks off this feature with his thoughtful observations.
 
February brings its onslaught of hearts and flowers, reminding us to pause and appreciate who and what we love and how we are loved in turn. Whether by partners, friends, families, our pets – whatever and whoever reminds us that we are loved.
 
Thank you for continuing to check in with us. I am deeply grateful for my relationship with NWCCA, its supporters and readers.
 
We heart you!
Rebecca

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NWCCA’s Collaboration with Town Hall

Monday, March 10, 7:30 PM
The Medhi Reading Room, Town Hall Seattle
1119 8th Avenue, Seattle

The Forever Letter — Authentic Connection with Ourselves and With Those We Love
Elana Zaiman with Rebecca Crichton

A Forever Letter, inspired by the centuries-old tradition of the ethical will, is a perfect way to deepen, heal and uplift the relationships that matter to us most. Forever letters can share our values and wisdom; ask for forgiveness and offer forgiveness; and express our gratitude, support, and love. Elana Zaiman, the first woman rabbi from a family spanning six generations of rabbis, will be our guide on a journey into forever letters and why we might want to place writing them high on our priority list.