I tried glassblowing for the first time last weekend, and expected to spend most of the three hours working glass as hot as literal molten lava.
Three hours later, I’d only been on the bench for maybe around forty five minutes of it. The rest was spent standing around and watching the other three beginners take their turns.
… And yet I left knowing more about glass than I know about clay after five weeks of taking ceramics classes.
There’s a secret step to mastering any skill that most of us skip
When it was my turn, I don’t think I actually learned much of anything. I was too busy panicking and trying not to accidentally burn myself!
Again, this is as hot as MOLTEN LAVA.
Ethan, our instructor, had me shaping the hot glass with wads of wet newspaper and wooden paddles. And when things caught on fire, he assured me (in an incredibly casual voice) it was totally normal.
But when I was standing off to the side? I could see everything with none of the life-or-death stakes attached.
When my grandma’s piece went wobbly and off-center, I saw the mistake happen in real time and watched our instructor help her fix it. And then, when it was my turn again, I had a better idea of what to avoid.
Over the course of three hours, I saw the entire end-to-end process of four other glass-blown cups, including my own. That’s three times I got to see cause and effect play out with zero adrenaline in the way.
My ceramics class… doesn’t have that part.
It’s a big class. We start with a demo up front, all crowding around the instructor’s wheel for a good view, and then everyone scatters and puts their heads down for two hours.
I’ve barely seen anyone else work.
Which means that sure, while I have more experience working with clay than I did five weeks ago, I know for a fact that some of this new muscle memory I’ve developed is wrong.
I’m smart enough to know I’ve picked up some bad habits, but not experienced enough to know what they are.
And I think this is exactly what’s happening to you on Instagram.
You’ve been posting for YEARS. You’re faster than you used to be, maybe a little less perfectionist about it, but… you’re also repeating the same handful of moves every time.
You have hooks you like and content formats you’re comfortable with, and that’s great, but…
Are they getting you the results you want?
Or, like me, have you developed some bad habits?
Repetition (aka consistency) is fantastic at building habits.
But if those habits are the wrong ones, you might just be stuck making the same mistakes over and over, effectively stunting your growth.
I can already hear you saying “wait, Kelsey, can’t I fix this by scrolling? I’m spending hours every single week on socials hunting for inspiration”
But think about what you’re actually looking at when you’re scrolling.
You’re seeing the finished product.
Content made by people five levels ahead of you, with no insight into why they made the scripting, filming, and editing decisions that they did.
You see the Reel that got 200K views, sure, but you don’t see the four trial Reels they posted that didn’t, or the reason why this one was different.
Soooooo…. explain to me how this is helping you, again?
What made my glassblowing class go so well was watching someone else’s piece go wrong, and then watching it get fixed. That’s the part scrolling can’t give you.
We learn best by doing AND by seeing others do it too.
All my love,
