Open Hearted Learning

Today, during the one day meditation retreat, the theme that the facilitator was describing was about open-ness. This word translates to "open heart" or "Kai-Shi". I found that the term open heart is very interesting and appropriate especially when learning new things. Lately, I have been feeling stuck in my class, because there are times when my heart is very much open to learning, while other times, my heart shuts down a bit. Either I feel overwhelmed by the information or unable to Can one apply the principle of the open heart outside of the meditation space and into daily interactions?
  I think the most important aspect in all of this is being open to pain and frustration. In learning a new concept, for example, one's previous experiences and patterns of behavior are often uprooted, and discomfort naturally arises. For me, this often takes the form of feeling that the ends are "loose" in my mind, and longing for times when my narratives are smoother and less riddled with obstacles. But what if all these obstacles precisely the means through which I learn through the frustration itself? Perhaps pain would then not be seen as detrimental to learning but might actually b a sign of learning.
  We tend to associate learning with a smooth path, through metaphors such as "learning curve". I love the thrill of feeling that I have "progressed" in my learning, but I wonder if this metaphor might be challenged. Perhaps learning is not always about progress at all but rather about starts and stops, as well as unearthing painful uncertainties. Could one reframe these stuck moments as forms of learning? I think that learning needs to include stuck moments as well as epiphanies.