I am still reading the Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin(?), which I think has some wonderful stories (his chess career is fascinating in and of itself) and some interesting insights about not just learning but thriving in a field of knowledge; however, part of me cannot get over the immense privilege this person has. He grew up in Manhattan, went to an elite school, his mom and dad could take off work to take their precocious little warlord (he uses all these comparisons to war when playing Chess) Chess Champion to tournaments all over the country, and the world. He got mentorship from some of the best grandmasters on the planet, that couldn't have been cheap. Which is what annoys me so. He talks about his inner locus of motivation and his passion for chess. But the dude had mentors that nourished his passion and made Chess seem fun and amazing and poured into him tons of knowledge of amazing games played throughout the ages.

What if you do not have a mentor, do not feel comfortable asking for help, or can't afford the help? I am at this point in my Art, where I am struggling at a plateau. My tone and rendering are awful, I still make some beginner mistakes like keeping all the edges consistent, my anatomy knowledge is...iffy at best. Now there's been plenty of meat to pull of the bone here, and I'm already thinking of ways to coach myself through some of these issues. But I WANT someone better at art than me, to tell me what I am doing wrong. I want to get nurtured. I want someone to tell me: "you got talent", or "I can see how much effort and passion you put into this"; I signed up for a coaching program back in 2017 and I received precisely that type of nurturing AND got assigned homework but it wasn't cheap and at some point, it had to give. I know: I DO that, work hard, put passion into this...hobby (?) but it's nice to hear it from other people too, you know?

I see this type of mentorship in my professional career. I am in grad school and I attended every single Office Hours I could. Even if it was just to shoot the shit with the professor and I learned SO MUCH. I am working on a research paper (might get published by 2022!) with a faculty who I consider my writing mentor and the way I talk about instructional design, she says it's like I've been doing this "for years"; which technically I have but I didn't have the words to express myself before learning theory, learning their applications, the use of technology, etc. Why can't I be at that stage with my art work. I just wanna draw cool and funny shit.

Fun bit I forgot to mention (if you could call it that): The soviet union had these amazing academies that taught folks specialized skills like chess, gymnastics, etc. And they were state sponsored and so on. Then the USSR collapsed and they all went out of business.

Anyways, Art of Learning, it's an interesting book.