Beginnings

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I experienced a supply chain shortage a little different from the masks, gloves, and COVID-19 testing problems we were tackling at work. I could not find any yeast to buy. Inadvertently, I had joined the apparently millions of other homebound bread-making aficionados across the world, who, together, had managed to deplete the worldwide supply of yeast.

Somehow I was surprised by this phenomenon, and it piqued my curiosity—what were all the other inspired bakers conjuring up in their kitchens? Fortunately, once yeast supplies were restored, everyone shared their experiences online generously. They helped our family discover the joys of homemade chocolate babka and frosted cinnamon rolls. It turns out we were not alone. A Hershey survey reported that 30% of the population pushed forward the frontiers of their baking skills during the pandemic.

According to Tom Vanderbilt , journalist and author of Beginnings, The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning (2021), our flour-dusted comrades likely not only got better at our baking, but we probably got better at other things too. Especially those of us trying new things, new recipes, new techniques.

In his book, Vanderbilt takes us on his own explorations. This adventure is launched when he finds himself, a typical dutiful Dad, leaning against the wall of a long corridor, alongside a row of other smartphone-engaged parents, patiently waiting for his daughter’s chess lessons to finish. He wonders why it’s assumed that only children can learn. Seeing all the fun she seems to be having, one day he decides to join her. That sets him on a journey of beginner experiences, and it’s quite a ride. From chess to singing to drawing to surfing, and more.

Beginnings is about the joy of learning—backed up with expert insights into the psychology and science of how adult beginners learn—and it’s a journey that will inspire everything to think anew about balancing the contentment of the routine and the excitement of the new.

Vanderbilt’s engaging and often laugh-out-loud accounts — from struggling to sing notes deliberately different (called harmony) from the person next to him to finally crushing one of his nine-year-old chess opponents — will make you immediately a fan. And if you’re like me, you’ll race to the web to find a new class or club to try. What’s wonderful about his experiences too are the colorful, adventurous characters he meets along the way, and the camaraderie that beginnerships create, especially when the learning can be done in person.

Not all of us have the time or access or resources to take up surfing or weeklong ocean swimming trips, and I’m not exactly sure Vanderbilt really did either. It looks like that around the time he was writing his book, his partner, Jancee Dunn , also a journalist and writer, was working on her own book. It’s called, How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids (2017). The audiopreview suggests it's about other husbands, of course. I’m in the queue for it with the public library, obviously fitting it in between all the new classes I’m signing up for.