As long as I live, I learn

When I started this blog, about a week ago, I mentioned that I had to do it before the first month of 2013 went away, seeing it a bit as a kick-start for the year. Well, this is not the only new thing I am doing in 2013. Ten days ago, I also started taking online courses on Food and Nutrition, which I am planning to follow for years to come - what one can learn is never enough and, in fact, never ends. No excuses about age either: one is never too young or too old to learn.

Up until mid-March then, I am following a course on Nutrition for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention offered by the University of California. Coming April, I am taking classes from Vanderbilt University (US-TN) regarding Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyle: Issues and Insights. I cannot even describe how excited I feel about this, not only because I am having classes on something I am interested in - albeit not professionally, thus never studied it - but also because I get to sit on my chair somewhere in Europe and watch the lectures someone is delivering in the States. For free. I only wish I had more time to pick more than one course per period, but still, I am very happy and have taken it very seriously, with my quizzes, assignments, and all things nice I erroneously thought I had left behind when finishing my studies. 

Happy as I am, I would advise everyone to take a look into the extensive list of Universities and Courses they offer on www.coursera.org and register, not only when it comes to subjects related to Food but for anything that excites you and you always wanted to learn a bit more about (or just realised you are curious about after you went through the list). Even if you don't have enough time, even if you think you might not get the chance to complete the course, you are not losing anything by trying. And if you are used to packed classrooms and you think this will be lonely and boring, there is actually a huge community involved and plenty of discussions going on every moment.

I am not advertising anyone or anything here. Being persuaded, however, that Food is far from just closing oneself in the kitchen, learning a bit more around it from the professionals in the field cannot but enhance my belief: it is necessary to be conscious about our choices. I already see in practice things I just learned during this first week of lectures - small details but of importance when looking at the greater picture. So, yes, judging from my experience, I wanted to share this piece of advice. Remember that any information, every bit of knowledge, works to Free our minds, to Foster our appreciation for what surrounds us, and to give us a push Forward. These three F's and then some more: it is Fun, Fulfilling, and Free (is this what FFF stands for?), just like everything that is actually of value in life.

I will be thrilled to hear your choices and progress! Seize the day!

P.S. I registered for these two classes sometime in 2012 so no, it has nothing to do with New Year's Resolutions and the rest, which, I have to admit, I hate.