Sooooooooooo, since my day job allows a lot of downtime, I'm currently and slowly attempting to teach myself some basic animation. Although it's still intimidating, I do find Adobe Animate has a much simpler interface than After Effects and why I'm starting with it.
However! Before embarking on ANY new field, principles/theories are the building blocks and must come first. That said, regularly hear people reference this video called The 12 Principles of Animation and thought onlookers might find it interesting/helpful. Happy Friday, friends.