https://mastodon.sdf.org/@ParadeGrotesque/102910282812657878

Preserved below:

The 4 stages of tool mastery:

• Pain: everything is incomprehensible, obtuse, even downright hostile. Nothing is intuitive or easy. Frustration is high.

However, lessons learned are very valuable: patience, humility and double-checking everything will serve you well in the future.

• Toil and Burden: you feel blocked at every turn. Even the simplest tasks seem to take hours. You tear your hair out.

However, there are also flashes of light, “aha!” moments. Value these and press on.

• Illumination: all of sudden, everything cliks into place! Hidden, breathtaking possibilities are revealed, a frenzy of excited learning and experimenting takes place, that may last a lifetime.

Enjoy the endorphin!

• Mastery: the tool has become a second nature, a daily driver, a trusted companion. You may even have improved it, in ways large and small.

That’s usually when someone looks at you and says “Wow, I wish I knew how to do that…”.

And that stage is usually when you smile that wise, battle-weary smile and say “Well, you know…”. 😉