The Perfume Effect of a Skill
When we wear a perfume, we are very conscious of its fragrance at first. For the first few minutes, we notice it. We can smell it clearly. But as the day goes by, we stop noticing it consciously. We are still carrying the fragrance, but it becomes part of the background. I think skills are much like that. When we learn something new, we are very conscious of it. We practise it. We remind ourselves to use it. We may even consciously think, “I need to apply what I learned.” But with practice, the skill becomes natural. We stop thinking about it. We simply use it. That, to me, is when learning has really become a skill. Just like perfume, you may not consciously notice the fragrance anymore, but you are still carrying it with you. Maybe the real goal of learning isn't to keep remembering that we learned something. It is to reach a point where we don't have to think about it anymore. We simply become it.