Two birdwatchers with binoculars and a spotting scope. Photo: CWIProphoto.com

Maybe you’ve wondered how to speak a few words of Italian before a trip. How to identify the birds visiting your backyard. How to take better photographs with your phone. How to make fresh pasta. Play the piano. Research your family history. Understand artificial intelligence. Grow tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes.

Today’s September Is Healthy Aging® Month tip is simple:

Learn Something New

This year’s theme, “Curiosity Has No Age Limit,” is a reminder that learning doesn’t belong only in classrooms—or only to the young. There is always another subject to explore, another skill to try and another question worth following.

And yes, we really can continue learning as we get older. The National Institute on Aging says older adults retain the ability to learn new things, create new memories and improve their performance in a variety of skills. NIA also points to research in which older adults who learned skills such as digital photography and quilting showed improvements in memory.

Start With Something That Interests You

Learning something new does not mean enrolling in a degree program or committing months to mastering a complicated subject.

Start smaller.

Take a one-day workshop. Watch a tutorial. Attend a lecture at a museum or library. Sign up for a cooking demonstration. Download a language lesson. Ask a friend to teach you something they know how to do. Take an introductory class at a community college, arts center or recreation program.

You could even spend an hour investigating something you’ve always wondered about.

The subject matters less than the curiosity behind it.

As we explored recently in “Stay Active, Stay Sharp: Why Lifelong Engagement Is the Key to Brain Health,” new and challenging activities can give our brains something different to work on. Learning a language or instrument or trying photography, painting or writing can take us out of autopilot and encourage continued engagement.

Don’t Worry About Being a Beginner

One of the pleasures of learning something new is also one of its challenges: you probably won’t be very good at it at first.

That can be surprisingly uncomfortable after decades of knowing how to do the things we do every day.

Your first attempt at watercolor painting may not be frame-worthy. Your first pickleball serve may go nowhere near where you intended. You may forget the new vocabulary word you learned yesterday. Your first loaf of bread may look nothing like the photograph in the recipe.

So what?

Being a beginner means you’re doing something you couldn’t do before.

There is no requirement that a new interest become a lifelong hobby, either. Take the pottery class and decide pottery isn’t for you. Try birdwatching and discover you’d rather photograph flowers. Start learning French and realize you’re fascinated by French cooking instead.

Curiosity is allowed to change direction.

Learning Can Lead Somewhere Unexpected

A class or workshop also gets you out into the world. You may encounter people you wouldn’t otherwise have met and discover interests you hadn’t considered.
That matters, too. The CDC reports that social connections are important to physical and mental health and recommends joining groups built around shared interests as one way to develop connections.

So a photography class isn’t necessarily just about photography. A cooking class isn’t only about dinner. A book discussion isn’t merely about finishing the book.
Each can become an opportunity to exchange ideas, hear another point of view, meet someone new—and ask another question.

Try It Today

Think of one thing you’ve always wanted to know how to do or understand better.

Don’t make a long list. Pick one.

Then take one small step today. Find the class. Watch the tutorial. Borrow the book. Look up the workshop. Ask someone who knows how to do it.

You don’t have to master anything today.

You just have to begin.

Ask more. Learn more. Live more.