Excitement and inspiration, that’s the feeling I love!

I get it when I’m learning something new.

I reviewed some newest ideas on learning and teaching – how should it be?

Finn’s are always hailed as their education, “in its simplicity the most amazing in the world”, call the slogans. The Chinese love it.

Far from perfect though.

But there’s some good ideas in it. Let me introduce.

A Finn view, by the silicon valley and education visionary Pekka Himanen, on what is the perfect learning process? Starts with:

Creative passion! Something that strikes you, keeps you wondering and gets you want to know more.

That is followed by asking questions and finding yourself answers to those.

The final stage is connecting that search with a community and a common dream towards something beautiful or meaningful, that you all strive for.

Imagine when you learned something really passionately. How was your feeling? What did you do? How did you react to that?

Compare that with moments, when you’re NOT passionated and interested about something and somebody tries to force you into learning something. Do you learn? Do you feel great?

I give a few examples.

Giant, big and small ones.

GIANT LIFE-CHANGING LEARNING – example China:

I’m most of my last 10 years been interested about China. I was struck by an intro by a powerful independent theatre director, Mr. Juha Hurme, who’s introduction on China just absolutely blew and changed my mind. That was a giant passion inside me. He didn’t do it. I did it. But he as a shocking fly, as a nurse helping baby to get born, as a party-maker, created an atmosphere, where a 21-year-old started to think: could human life be something different than the one that i have 20+ years got used to? Could there be another reality that I haven’t realised? Is our Western Culture just a (corrupted) “matrix” that is pulled in front of our eyes? Is there another purer way of living, where I could find myself again?

China posed that “oriental” mystery to me and in its illusion this new world, that I was never much exposed to seemed to be the solution to my existential question: what is our life, how should we live, how should I live. China offered a mirror, a different view, that would definitely help me to find answers, if I only understood it well enough.

Started a massive giant journey: I studied for the following years everything I could about China. Started finding answers, utilising the resources – books, courses, new curriculum, talented researchers and professors, even an own trip to China and Asia. After I’d enrolled into Turku University, I found the Centre of East Asian studies and learnt everything I can from the top Nordic specialists on Chinese society and history.

After got into Shenzhen university and lived through with Chinese themselves many things. Also learnt the language in 2 years of time.

Many stuff also followed and dots started to connect.

But learning doesn’t always have to be on such a life-changing profound level. It can also be periodical.

BIG PASSIONATE LEARNING – studying at “crazy” pace and enjoying it – Bachelor in 5 months

After I got back from the UN / EU military peacekeeping mission from Central Africa, I realised, I needed to focus back on my studies. I also worked at the Finnish sports channels as football commentator and found out that there was too much stuff for too little time – and I couldn’t get my studies forward. After quitting temporarily all the other liabilities, I funded my studies with the military earnings and took a “sabbath” spring at Turku university.

I was passionate about learning and getting my studies forward. I created an own system of graduating and fulfilling exams at my own pace – a system where I controlled everything on my own studies. I could quit or start new things whenever I wanted, and would never be in a situation of burning myself off.

This full liberty and full choice on my own studying enabled me to focus ONLY on those things that I feel passionate about. In cases where I had 3 things that I felt passionate about I always those the one that suited best for optimising my own studies and curriculum and supported my graduation.

That way I soon got a calendar with exciting subjects every day and every week. And the positive cycle of getting things done created a snowball effect which gave even more energy and inspired me to go even further. A community of other students supported each other. I also exercised sports frequently, slept and ate pretty well and liberated my self and time for learning.

In five months I had studied a total of 144 credits, practically almost my whole bachelor degree done in 5 months.

Did I feel burn-off? did I feel exhausted? Did I want to quit?

No, no, no.

I have rarely felt as good as I felt that time.

And it all started with a genuine interest and passion of these subjects. Also of “structurally” enabling space, minimising distractions and adapting a lifestyle that supported the studies.

Done, done, done.

At summer I relaxed totally, took a bicycle and went to the Finnish wilderness and wonderland camping for 3 weeks – on my own! With a few reindeers and occasional other campers. I loved it.

And autumn got back with even better spirit.

I have rarely ever been as bright, excited, inspired and academically sensitive and energised as then.

SMALL PASSIONATE LEARNING: follow the sudden inspiration – the Middle East example

Let’s give one more example:

A few weeks ago, in the middle of taking my company forward and eagerly preparing a prime minister youth event for Beijing, I felt I need to “plug-off” for a day. I need to go to another world for awhile.

The best way? Get drunk? Party all night? Do something else?

One of the best ways: go to another world, learn something completely different. It keeps you well off. A remind a research from school years, that those who play and practice table tennis 100% with right hand learn less table tennis than those who use the same time with 80% on right hand and 20% left hand. Different view, change and taking out is good for the brain and body.

It’s amazing how random or sudden the start of a creative passion can be. It can be some tiny, small stuff that you face – and boom, you’re gone! Some people get more inspirations, some less – but we all get once in awhile. What makes you excited? How do you identify that you are excited? How do you nurture and foster that excitement? How do you arrange a space and frame to support your excitement and growth? How do you focus?

After being interested about human and international relations, history, different cultures, the “oriental” view on learning on something different and so on, I came up in front of something that wouldn’t always shock you into extremes, wake up a passion to learn and make you ask questions and find answers to those. What was it?

It was suddenly about the Middle East. An area that I know to have challenges between different stakeholders and peoples, but which have always been so weird and complex that I’ve given a half-blind eye to it – and focused rather on East Asia and the intercourses between it and our culture.

But something happened that shocked me into extremes: a path opened up to understand what the whole middle east was about. And as a result I studied EVERYTHING I can about it and made own maps and kept asking questions. I overused the wikipedia and different websites and Youtubes into extinction….

It started with a news about Qatar – and the sudden attack on Saudi-Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and other Arabic countries on it. What? What in the world? Where do you need an alliance of multiple countries to resist a tiny little Qatar? How is that possible.

I read a story from Finnish specialist from Martti Ahtisaari’s CMI crisis management team – “it’s all about Iran”.

What the f**k? I mean… You have a tiny Qatar that shouldn’t worry anybody – and you have the big arabian countries like Saudis and their alliance attacking it. And it’s actually about Iran?

What ?

I was so puzzled by this, that I couldn’t do anything but to find out what’s going on. I also felt good to do something totally different than what I had been doing for the past weeks.

I sat on an Indonesian, Balian restaurant in Shanghai for the whole day reading and researching.

In over a day I had got all the maps about the divide between the Sunnis and Shias, between the nation-building process and Paris Peace Conference chaos after 1919, the settlement of Sionists and Israelis, the pan-Arab movement, the Iraq and the oil, the fights among the different sections and….

It all started to make sense and through creative passion I got the questions in my mind, used the available resources to find answers (wikipedia, Youtube, internet, Baidu, arabic friends). It could have got even further, if I’d have that area related friends more in my everyday life. I also got the dream of the future:

could we create a Middle East, where all different parties could have a place, a voice and meaning? Could we combine the superpower economic and global interests, with pan-Arabic interests, on Sunni-Shi’a interests and also Jewish and western?

It seemed to me that for Arabs there were multiple identities that meant for them. Let’s see Iraqi’s for instance.

Most important usually wasn’t “Iraqi” nationalism. It was a concept created by British and French – not by themselves. Religion and being a muslim seemed to be most important. Secondarily being Sunni or Shiite, or a Kurd. Socialism influenced, but was never the main reason.

Could we have an “Abrahamic” nation of the Middle east?

Faisal I and Chaim Weizmann didn’t have any challenges of having Arabs and Jews living in a same state.

We all come from same roots. Abraham. Muslims, Jews and Christians.

So many other things also evolved.

However I’m not taking those forward. My work and environment focus on China. This is where I am. I like it, yes.

WHAT’S YOUR PASSIONATE LEARNING?

What’s your giant, big or smaller “shocks” that got your learning passion into the extremes? What kind of teachers or people helped you to get that enthusiasm forward? How to create an environment where that kind of enthusiasm is accepted, respected and rewarded – and supported by the managerial players? Look at Harvard, Yale, best Beijing universities, Zhejiang university. In Finland we have Aalto and Helsinki universities among others.

Or the Helsinki student theatre, a community where I’ve learnt probably half of the important things about life and the world there is to know.

Thank you for Finland for giving the frame and platform to learn and create a constructive and collaborative culture to get things forward – anywhere in the world I am.

That’s about it for this week!

Get back to you very soon… 🙂

P.S. Send feedback or contact anytime. Would love to hear more of your thoughts.

I’ll write occasionally about random subject that currently interest. From China to entrepreneurship to Finland and world, to the youth, to impacting – and sharing moments from your life and your soul. Subscribe and tune in a couple of times a month with new articles.