I applaud the trend of universities putting courses online for people to audit for free. They're sometimes called MOOCs, or Massively Open Online Classes.

Not surprisingly, that's only accelerated the last few months.

If you haven't heard of this, check out Coursera! (There are many others.) I'm currently loving Developing Your Musicianship through the Berklee School of Music. It's taught by a professional jazz musician and my hands feel like two stone clubs when I'm watching him show off.

The downside to these classes: accountability. 99% of students don't finish free online courses. Having college tuition money on the line is motivating! Unless you're fired up on a topic (cough piano), taking the class with a parent/friend/partner and regularly scheduling it seems like the way to go.

A continued pursuit for me is grappling with contribution out of obligation versus because I sincerely want to. While I believe we can all benefit from selfless contribution (and that the world needs it, especially now!), I'm more focused on engaging in places that resonate strongly (e.g. mentoring, GarageFit) in a way that avoids burnout.

Anyone else exploring this? Perhaps it's unexamined selflessness that is the core issue here? The section below from the Guardian article Eight Secrets to a (Fairly) Fulfilled Life prompted even more thought.

If you’re prone to thinking you should be helping more, that’s probably a sign that you could afford to direct more energy to your idiosyncratic ambitions and enthusiasms. As the Buddhist teacher Susan Piver observes, it’s radical, at least for some of us, to ask how we’d enjoy spending an hour or day of discretionary time.

And the irony is that you don’t actually serve anyone else by suppressing your true passions anyway. More often than not, by doing your thing – as opposed to what you think you ought to be doing – you kindle a fire that helps keep the rest of us warm.

H/T to Alastair Humphreys for the article.