On learning

I really appreciate those who go out of their way to learn new things. They always find they learn much more than they ever anticipated. Thomas Keller, the celebrated American chef, tells a wonderful story of how he wanted to learn how to slaughter a rabbit. One day, he decided he wanted to try doing it himself and asked his purveyor to show him how. The purveyor demonstrates on the first rabbit. Then he leaves Keller to do the same with the remaining rabbits from the day’s order. Keller has trouble with his first one. There is suffering. It was a terrible experience. He had simply wanted to learn how to slaughter a rabbit. But he got a bonus lesson. He also learned much more about the true cost of the food that comes into his kitchen and now he takes much better care of his ingredients, knowing what it took to get them. Needless to say, waste is not tolerated in his kitchen. (Read the full story in his book, The French Laundry)

So go out and try to learn something new. You may just get more than you bargained for, but you won’t regret it.