Skill Gathering

The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

-Robert Louis Stevenson

Here at Free Range, we're a bit "skill-centric."

The most famous List of Skills is, of course, The 64 Arts of The Kama Sutra, which one was expected to acquire in order to become a Worthy Marriage Partner.

Many of The 64 Arts are huge categories, like "Skill at Youthful Sports" which then lead to another hundred million activities.

In my early twenties I wrote them out and stuck them on the wall, intending to work my way through them and become Thoroughly Well-Rounded, not necessarily with Marriage in mind...

Some of the Arts on the list, like the Quail and Ram-Fighting, Precision Petal Strewing and Turban Decorating might not float yer boat, but it's easy to think of modern equivalents...ok, except for the ram-fighting.


Using that list as a starting point, I have, through the years, updated and added skills I thought it would be fun and/or useful to learn or obtain deeper knowledge of. If something really interested me, I pulled it out from a larger, vaguer category.

Although my expertise is in List Making, I've tried and studied many of them and mastered a few!



Now we're using The Ever-Growing List as a mental launching pad to help brainstorm ideas for our TV-free evenings, projects and general "environment enrichment." I think perhaps I might print it out in large type and post it on a wall again. If the Sprouts ever complain about 'Having Nothing To Do' when they are older, I'll just wave in the direction of The List.

Here is The List... in "Chaos" order for maximum dendrite stimulation:

1. Wilderness Survival Skills
2. Bricklaying
   
3. Ballroom Dancing
4. The Art of Conversation
5. Plowing with a Team of Clydesdales
   
6. The Art of Listening
7. Kite Making
   
8. Fungi and Edible Wild Plant Identification
   
9. Horseback Riding
10. The Art of Building Dry Stone Walls and Bridges
    
11. Origami
    
12. Sailing/Seamanship
13. The Art of Becoming a Master of Disguises
    
14. Singing
15. Knot Tying
    
16. Reading & Writing Music
    
17. Camping Skills
18. Sleuthing
    
19. Playing Musical Instruments
20. Photography
21. Magic Tricks/Sleight of Hand
    
22. Documentary Film Making
    
23. Writing
24. Walking Through the Woods Without Snapping a Twig
    
25. Calligraphy/Illumination
26. Hot Air Ballooning
    
27. Typing
28. Making Dyes from Plants
29. Illustrating Children's Books
    
30. Reasoning, Debating Skills
31. Sheep Shearing
    
32. Drawing
33. Falconry
34. The Art of Carding and Spinning Wool
    
35. Painting
36. Beer Brewing
    
37. Sculpture
38. The Art of Becoming Ping-Pong Champion of the World
    
39. Pottery
40. Painting Murals, esp. Gigantic Illustrated Historical Time Line
    
41. Making Stained Glass
42. Whittling
43. The Art of Being Present
    
44. Glass Blowing
    
45. Scrapbooking/Making Beautiful Photo Albums
    
46. Jewelery Making
47. Knowledge of Metals and Gemstones
    
48. Acting, Theatre, Performance
    
49. Culinary Arts
50. The Art of Very Fancy Cake Decorating
51. Chess
    
52. Preserving Food from the Garden
    
53. The Art of Entertaining
54. Foreign Languages
55. Bird Watching/Identification
56. The Art of Building an Igloo
    
57. Interior Design, Home Beautification
58. The Art of Dog Training
59. Knowledge of Antiques
    
60. The Art of Feng Shui
61. Puppet Making
    
62. Metalwork, Welding
    
63. Sewing, Knitting, Embroidery, Crochet, Quilting, other fibre arts
64. The Art of Mimicry esp. Animal Noises, in particular Roosters
    
65. Woodworking/Furniture Building
    
66. Toymaking
    
67. Riddles, Tongue-twisters, Puns, Limericks, Wordplay
68. The Art of Domestic Bliss
    
69. Storytelling, Chanting, Narration
    
70. The Art of Fencing
71. The Art of the Bow & Arrow
    
72. Martial Arts/Self Defence
    
73. Downhill Skiing/Cross Country Skiing
    
74. Carpentry
75. The Art of Keeping One's Skin Impossibly Smooth
    
76. Architecture, Building
77. Knowledge of Art History
    
78. Mineralogy
79. Snowshoeing
    
80. Navigation by the Stars
    
81. Swimming
    
82. Astronomy
    
83. Knowledge of Healing Properties of Herbs
    
84. Plumbing, DIY About the House
    
85. The Art of Growing Old English Roses
    
86. First Aid, CPR
    
87. Landscape Design
88. Agriculture, Farming
89. Growing Heirloom Vegetables and Possibly Boars
    
90. The Art of Creating Formal Herb Gardens
    
91. Animal Husbandry
92. Meditation
93. Knowledge of Exotic Spices
    
94. Emotional Skills, eg. Forgiveness, Happiness, Moving On
    
95. Art of Teaching Parrots and Starlings to Speak (just couldn't bring myself to remove it)
    
96. Botany
    
97. Poetry
    
98. Card Games and Board Games
    
99. Vigorous Sports, Assorted
    
100. The Ancient Healing Art of Yoga
     
101. Nutrition, Holistic Healing
     
102. Art of Judging Character (in a non-judgmental sort of way, obviously)
     
103. Floral Design, Perfumery, Aromatherapy, Petal Strewing
     
104. Candlemaking
105. The Art of Making Natural Soaps and Household Cleaning Supplies
     
106. Blacksmithing
107. The Art of Tie Dye
108. Parenting Skills
109. The Art of Massage, Reiki, Reflexology
     
110. Printmaking, Stamp-Carving
111. Beekeeping
     
112. Juggling, Acrobatics, Fire-Eating
113. Bartending/Very Fancy Cocktail Making
     
114. The Art of Unicycling
     

We'll let you know when we've accomplished all of this. Please feel free to submit skills we haven't thought of!

HW