What tools for swimming do you wish you had learned in school? How did you learn them after? And what do you wish you had not learned (and then had to unlearn)?
questions from Bettina for XP newsletter :: October 6, 2025
Wish I learned
- How to say no. It's tricky when you also want to please people or are unsure what the work will actually look like. Sometimes I've said no and regretted it, so it's not straightforward. Still, when I have said no to projects, it's often made room for better things.
- That art production is often just like any other work. I think because it's "art" and takes on this mystical feeling, there's pressure to make things that feel like magic. But I don't think that kind of art is "day job ready" under current conditions.
- Business skills, like doing taxes as a freelancer.
- How to do handstands (underwater and on land), stretch, climb
Had to unlearn
- How to talk about my work. Out of pressure from peers and class critiques, I felt I had to wrap everything up in a story. I do think storytelling is one way of making art, but it's not the only way.
- This feeling that support systems like the ones in school exist out in the world.
Learned after
- For a long time, I put pressure on myself to make everything meet a standard I was happy with before putting it out into the world. I feel that less now, or at least I think it's only sometimes true. Especially with paid projects, "good enough" is totally okay.
- That fieldtrips (in school and life) are maybe more important than class time.