To know the true reality of yourself,
you must be aware not only of your conscious thoughts,
but also of your unconscious prejudices, bias and habits.
My Adobe CS4 came bundled with not only Photoshop but also Fireworks. Why? I asked myself. I’ve used Photoshop since version 1.0 and could see no reason to learn a new piece of software. No reason except for one—I recognize that I tend to be biased by familiarity, and I need to make a conscience effort to try other things to keep from missing something really cool.
Making use of my Lynda.com membership, I started viewing one of the set of Fireworks tutorials (Rapid Prototyping) and it blew me away. Over the years, I’ve cobbled together my own method of producing comps for website development using Illustrator and Photoshop. I will still use Illustrator for my illustration work and Photoshop for photo editing and print production, BUT I’m going to give Fireworks a try on my next web job. I can tell from the tutorial that I’m going to love it.
That brings me to today’s hint from the woman with the white hair:
Being aware of bias in your thinking could be your greatest asset in personal growth. Use it as a flag, a sign post. Let it motivate you to research the other side and see if there is any validity to your biased inclination.
Knitting, writing and other joys 
That does hit me right between the eyes. Thank you, Katherine. I have known this about myself, but I needed both your example and your prompting.
I, too, tend to hold with the familiar. Yet I know how healthy it is to stretch and grow. Thanks for sharing these words and your own move into the unfamiliar; they motivate and remind me to do the same.