I rarely sit and say “Wow. I wish I knew how to do that.” I greatly admire people who have amazing skills: one of my friends makes the most gorgeous quilts. While I think what she makes is wonderful, I absolutely don’t want to learn how to quilt. I have friends who play instruments, speak languages and know how to sail. I appreciate the knowledge they have, but as for me learning? No thanks.

I rarely say that I wish I knew how to do something. If I want to learn how to do something, I just do it. There is no preamble. There is just action. Which probably explains why I do so little, but that’s a whole other blog…

So, when tasked with this question about what I would like to know how to do…I sort of go rogue…

What do I wish?

I wish I knew how to read people’s minds.

Most of the time I am actually pretty good at reading cues…which would explain why I hate Zoom…I am decent at uncovering body language clues, and I am good at detecting tone.

That being said, there are times I totally misread the room…where the inhabitants might as well be speaking Klingon for all I get out of the conversation and cues.

So clearly, I want to know what people are really thinking…what does this person really think about the situation, the setting, the people? What do they think about my outfit? Do they really think I wear too much black? This is what this inquiring minds wants to know!!

But as I can’t learn to read minds…just tell me…

What are you thinking about?

78 thoughts on “Bloganuary Day 5: What is something you wish you knew how to do?”

  4. As a kid this is something we used to talk about. Would you rather be able to fly or breathe water? Would like to read minds or instant recall of anything you read or saw?

    Now I have always wanted to be fluent in another language so I am studying Spanish (for more than a year). I have always wanted to go to the Cook Islands and now I want to travel a part of Europe by train – Switzerland or Italy.

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  5. I can tell you what I’m NOT thinking. I’m not thinking about what you or anyone else is wearing.

    We have a running joke in the family. If you want to know what people were wearing on some occasion, you should ask Christine. If the question is about food, ask Anne.

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    1. River just do it! Those are wonderful wishes/ goals. We always think we have forever or will get around to it ,but often we don’t, so make some time. You don’t have to be perfect at it just learn as much as possible on either instrument. I say this because I played in a rock band when I was a teen and then played my guitars now and then until I just stopped as I grew up and had a family . I am now 72 and fighting cancer and I realized I had pretty much forgotten everything I knew musically because it had been so long. I have no doubt I’ll beat cancer but I should embrace my life and make time to play music again. . My younger son researched ,found me a vintage 1966 fender mustang and had his guitar specialist work on it with him. ( (my son collects vintage guitars and amps etc).. Anyhow, unbeknownst to me he brought the guitar for me as a bday gift and in between being sick from chemo I’m relearning everything I used to know on the guitar. So It’s never too late! For Christmas that same son when he drove down to visit., came with a keyboard. I’m not sure if it’s the chemo or not, but I used to play piano too and now I’ve forgotten the basics there so I’ve got to relearn to play piano again. But there are so many apps and sites where they not only give you chords, notes, songs and they have electronic versions of how to play piano, the keyboard, or if you google a specific song some professional will pop up and show you how to play anything!
      In regards to violin , My father gave me his violin that belonged to my grandfather when he lived in Paris in the very early 1900’s. My younger son is talented musically and because he can play guitar, banjo, uke etc. I gave him his great grandfather’s violin. While it’s not a strat it’s a lovely, well made student violin or one used for women or young boys in the mid 1800’s. And there is value there but not thousands. . My son had it appraised and cleaned up and taught himself to play it.
      Any how, I am learning that on days I feel good I’ll play the guitar or keyboard. I’m terrible at it but who care. it’s joyful to do. So go ahead and learn something you’ve always wanted to do. Go for it! 👍

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      5. I may have gotten carried away. Lol Forgive me if I overstepped. But everyday I seem to have an epiphany. Because of my current health situation it’s like I’m wearing 3D rose colored glasses trying to cherish all the special moments in every single day. So when I read what you wrote I felt compelled to encourage you.

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      6. I didn’t feel you overstepped at all. The things you wrote are precisely the type of things I like to learn about people. I’m not much for small talk, so when someone offers me some depth, insight into themselves, I always appreciate it.

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      7. Thanks. I’m finding I am now bolder and can actually say (or write) what I am thinking. I feel I can look back on things and think why didn’t I do this or that? And so I want to tell folks don’t waste a second. Live your precious life to the fullest. I also learned that we don’t need to be so hard on ourselves and we don’t need to be perfect . We just need the experience and the joy. ✌️❤️🎸

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  8. Hmmm. I don’t think I want to read minds – I believe that some things are truly left unsaid which is why we can’t read minds! 😂😊 I like this post though because your posts always make me think …

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  13. I’m always curious and want to learn something new. If we weren’t that we were in the middle of covid id be taking in person classes. I enjoy in person more than on line but it’s irresponsible to do so now. I listen to podcasts frequently, I’m always watching theatrical productions on YouTube because I love theatre or taking classes on novels , artists, authors etc. I’m currently relearning how to play guitar and keyboard.. . I have no desire to read minds. I pick up vibes way too easily as it is. I Before the pandemic I was taking a painting class. I’ve always wanted to learn to paint. I usually just sketch in pencil or used chalk or pen and ink. Right now my wish is to enjoy life whenever I can. I crave enlightenment.

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  14. Oooh, that one’s scary. I really don’t think I have the steel skin needed to deal with other peoples true thoughts. But I can see the usefulness of this power if used very strategically (and minimally).

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  17. I wish I knew how to play the piano much better than I do. To let my fingers glide along the keys like concert pianists do, making such a beautiful sound. But yet the urge isn’t strong enough to try and take lessons again. i just wish I hadn’t quit back when I was a teenager.

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  18. Oh, I have some empathetic skills I consider a curse almost. Believe you don’t really want to know what people really think. It made for a very confusing childhood when words did not match what was really thought. YIKES!

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  20. The things I wish for are not things that can be learned–sense of direction and ability to carry a tune. Because my husband is adventurous, I have done a lot of things that other people might wish they could do–foreign travel, private airplane, motorcycles, backpacking, fostering rescue dogs. I would love to be fluent in a second language and have spent a lot of years studying Latin and French and now Spanish, but alas, no fluency in sight.

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  21. I wish i knew how to keep the weight off. I wish i could type better than the two (these days one) finger method. I wish I knew how to market myself. I don’t often think of these things, these were my answers to today’s question.

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  23. I share the same mindset, that if there’s something I want to learn then I try it. I try to be realistic about it though. Some things I don’t have the time, money, or whatever else might be an obstacle standing in the way. So I don’t get hung up on regrets.

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  24. Wishing you could read minds made me realise just how conservative I had been with my wish. I should have gone straight for the top – wishing I could do anything. It doesn’t usually end well though – there was a TV play years ago exploring exactly that – a man was given godly powers for the day, and very quickly destroyed the world.

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  25. I wish I knew how to fix cars. When I was growing up my family owned a garage my great grandparents started. My grandpa was a mechanic along with my uncle. One of my brothers knows a lot about cars but I wasn’t allowed to learn because I was a girl. I wish it didn’t matter and I could’ve learned from them.

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