Theloopylululog

What’s the best online course I’ve ever taken?

This is fun. So I will play by the book.

If you know me, I have myriad interests and I have quite an appetite to learn.

So one day I am trying to learn Swahili and French on Duolingo, Carl Jung’s take on shadow work and integration the next, while I am also seriously planning to take the world of astrology by storm, right in the middle of the day, as I am cursing no one in particular and tackling the sleeve of a blouse my sewing machine is refusing to stitch.

Enough proof that I have an hyper-curious mind that likes to discover something new every day.

Obviously I have taken plenty of courses online, many of them for free! I wouldn’t know which one was the best of the lot, since each one left me with knowledge and lessons that have enriched my life and peppered my salt-and-pepper hair with enough wisdom to self-gloat on days I am bored and no one is around to entertain me!

One course in particular came to me during the Covid lockdown era. A course on Photography by Shaw Academy. A chance advert on facebook led me to sign up for their free courses and the very next moment I was handed a platter filled with the choicest of courses.

My brother had brought home a DSLR the previous year and urged me to begin using it. I kept delaying and dancing around it since I assumed it would require technical expertise. I didn’t want to be the one burdened with, Oh, so that button was not meant for flash, was it? after bumbling and jumbling with the camera, breaking a thing or two in the melee.

So photography naturally seemed right up my alley, even as I chose a plethora of other courses that I found fascinating. Taught by a man with an Aussie accent, the class left me pleasantly surprised. First, I could grasp pretty much all of the tech-related material. Second, it wasn’t that hard to put into practice.

Thus began the adventures of my faithful DSLR and me. It was during the lockdown, remember? I was left with free time by the bucketful, since it was just my sis and me who were cooped up at home while my parents had found themselves locked down with my brother in a different city.

Everyday curiosity, as I learned something new every day, led to me going click, click, click as often as I could, my vantage point being my balcony with my lens trained on whatever it faced.

The road, the rain, and the rain tree at the corner of the road, blooming afresh after every new drizzle.

The sky, the light, and the flight of hundreds of birds flying around in freedom, found after a long wait for humanity to stay indoors.

The graveyard, the graves, and the trees that guard and shade the dead with an empathy rarely found in humans.

Thus began my tryst with the blog The Graveyard Shift, which catalogued the specific photography project titled The Graveyard Shift, showcasing a collection of photographs taken from my balcony overlooking an actual Muslim graveyard during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The course gave me a sense of purpose during what is perhaps the most challenging time of this decade. I was, understandably, scared. The project kept me busy and engaged. Trying to learn the art of painting with light was certainly easier than learning to balance a long-distance relationship.

My camera became the unexpected friend I had not even been seeking. When the dark clouds lifted and people made their way to the streets, I went on walks at dawn, capturing flowers growing in the most secretive of places on the roads near home. Birds, bees, flycatchers, parrots, starlings, and dragonflies found their way to the acacia and flame of the forest that bloomed like they never had before.

Nature became my queen, who posed for me every day in her choicest glamorous attire. I found the confidence that I always seemed to lack while wielding the DSLR. It accompanied me everywhere.

The course lasted just two months over 16 videos. I don’t even remember the Aussie guide’s name. But the course managed to leave me with something I didn’t think I needed until then.

A chance to explore the many Lulus hidden within me—who didn’t have to die a slow death for lack of fresh air and a simple why not?

A camera, a graveyard, and some curiosity to learn and explore myself was all it took for a paradigm shift in perspective.

Moral of the story: Not everything offered online is risky or flaky. Sometimes even online freebies offer a new direction in life—a short trail to new pastures, a fresh point of view (quite literally), and a hand to hold during the loneliest of times.