Thanks, Joshua for posting this essay! It gets to the heart of why this whole journey makes so much sense and gives us so much benefit for our lives! Great!
1 Like
Happy to share. I take classical lessons online with Allen, and he posts these inspirational/reflective essays every Tuesday.
This one just happens to post this morning and is spot on for this thread, coincidentally. The only credit I get is for connecting the dots.
3 Likes
Some of my favorite things donât have a point. I know people who wonât do any sort of diversion that they canât monetize. Live your best life, friends. 
9 Likes
This article comes with perfect timing to me, as in the past few weeks Iâve been appointed with a new upper role at work, which means more commitment and responsabilitiesâŚsome stomach and neck aches, that fortunately lasted only a couple of days and Iâve been wondering and worrying âHow this will change my guitar practice? Will I be able to rely on enough mental energy to practice?â Insofar I reached the conclusion that the answers were to be found by overturning the questions: itâs my guitar practice that is and will keep on affecting positevely anything else: more focus, emotional fullfillment, mental energy, creativity and stress decrease âŚmy march schedule is already full of 
, no matter the extra commitment 
I just canât do without my guitarsâŚ
7 Likes
I think the whole point is that there isnât any point. Let me explain, if I can, hopefully without getting too abstract.
There is really only ever right now. Canât change the past and canât predict the future. So, right now is all there is for anyone regardless of who they are.
I play guitar because it gives me a series of high quality âright nowsâ . . . I work to get better on the instrument because the more skill I have at playing, the higher the quality of the âright nowâ. . .I remember Justin quoting Neil Young in one of his videos (on the playing the major scale, I think it was) and the quote went: âThe more you think, the more you stink.â Meaning that playing was about staying in the moment, in the present and not thinking too much about what just happened or what was coming up. .
As others have said here, just enjoy the ride and try to make your next âright nowâ with the guitar better than the last one. . . itâs all about making your âright nowsâ with the guitar progressively more and more joyful. . . at least it is for me. 
7 Likes
I like this 
5 Likes
âFind a place inside where there is joy, and the joy will burn out the painâ.
I find Joy when I play, even at my level.
4 Likes
I think the other posts have been right on. Play for the love of it. On playing slowly , we all play slow when we are learning something new. You should. Making sure your playing it right and not learning any bad habitsâŚsoon enough your fingers will glide across the neck and youâll close your eyes and feel really good⌠Your destination will chose you when your ready.
2 Likes
I would like to thank everyone for their responses, some great answers. Thanks everyone, very inspiring, and great to be part of such an awesome group of people.
3 Likes
Thanks, glad you like it I was lucky, had 36 great years with her and two great daughters
all the best, Mike
3 Likes
Appreciate the question posted, Ross, and all the thoughtful replies.
As for me, I guess I just go with it without too much concern as to where I am going. So I meander a long, without too much drive and discipline. I accept that this means I will not be as âgoodâ as I potentially could be, I am mostly OK with this. Whenever I play, I enjoy it and also find it a welcome retreat from day-day lifeâs stresses and strains.
6 Likes
I think this is an interesting point. I frequently get the âoh, you must be so smart to be a doctorâ comments. But am I? I found an intensive subject that I was actually interested and applied myself over 100 hrs a week of work and study for 8 years. Of course I became good at it. But I would argue that it would had more to do with interest, motivation and drive than any specific ability or intelligence.
This applies to guitar and music as well. Had I put the same effort into guitar back then, maybe I would be a rock star, or more likely be potentially able to make a living with music. But I didnât, that was not where my focus was.
Even now, I love my guitar hobby, but I am not trying to invest to that level at this point in my life.
In my youth, I never even entertained the idea of âbeing a rock starâ, but as life choices go, applying myself to medicine provided a virtual guarantee of a great job and income, whereas applying the same effort to guitar would have given a tiny chance of making it big enough to equal where I am now. Many people make decent livings as musicians, but it is by no means guaranteed and I know that would not have been my ideal skill set.
8 Likes
A beautiful and very appropriate essay shared there Joshua, thank you! That really resonates with me. Iâm typically a workaholic and a very goal-oriented person. I didnât do anything if I couldnât see a clear and beneficial outcome at the end of it. I only started exploring/revisiting hobbies in my early 40s that I gave up on as a kid/young adult (swimming, scuba diving, photography, martial arts, and now playing the guitar). I realized in hindsight, that I gave up too early on all those things because I didnât see myself becoming great at any of them. However, having explored all of them in my midlife, Iâm enjoying the sheer benefit of quieting my continuously overactive never-stops-thinking mind,.Iâm exercising both my mind and body, which replenishes my energy thatâs usually sucked dry from work, and Iâm surprising myself with how good I can become at some of them if I only allowed myself the time to get better at them and importantly just enjoy doing them. That made me realize that I should be focusing less on the outcome and more on the journey and enjoying the day-to-day challenges and small wins. Thatâs where the real pleasure is for me.
If I was aiming to make a career or living out of it, the focus and time commitment would obviously need to be different, but Iâm not. Itâs something that I do for myself, and Iâm only now realizing how important it is to have things like that in oneâs life, especially if like me youâve dedicated most of your adult life to serving/taking care of others, itâs all the more important to take care of myself and allow myself these simple pleasures which I can just enjoy for their own sake.
7 Likes
I think everyone asks this question. Especially if it is just a hobby and not a career ambition.
One of my hobbies is photography, I threw myself into it 12 years ago and Iâve become an exceptional photographer, I win awards, I teach others, etc. and I often ask that same question, whatâs the point? Iâm never going to become a âfamousâ photographer, Iâm never going to be rich from my photography.
I struggle with this question every couple of years and keep coming back toâŚ.I do it because I love doing it. The act of photography is what is important, itâs what I enjoy, itâs what drives me. It doesnât matter if anyone ever sees the photos I take, because thatâs not the end game, itâs just a nice perk.
I feel the same way about the guitar. Iâm doing it for me because I enjoy the process, I enjoy the music that I make, maybe I will play a song for someone else that they enjoy, but that is just a nice side benefit, it doesnât affect my enjoyment. Iâm doing this fo me and thatâs the point.
6 Likes
Interesting conversation. It is in the doing and the experiencing; that is the point. In fact, it is the only point. With everything.
Life here has a dire outcome for all of us here; no-oneâs getting out alive. Enjoy the comedy/ drama/ tragedy along the wayâŚ
.
6 Likes
And you canât take your guitar with you, in the end, so play it now!
2 Likes
He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace in Nine Mile; his casket contained his red Gibson Les Paul guitar, a Bible opened at Psalm 23, and a stalk of ganja placed there by his widow Rita Marley.
Bob Marley took his guitar with him.
2 Likes
Some nice songtekst in this here Shane.
The point imo is that you doing it for yourself, I believe that is what keeps you going.
Asking such a question like OP is a good thing, he can see we all struggle from time to time with things like this.
This is why I like this community. Weâre all on the same journey. But sometimes itâs nice to read stuff that gets you back on track, even if itâs not your own question.
There is great benefit in this.
4 Likes
Rosshkerr Iâm 73, sadly my wife died (cancer) last year, but rather than sink, I started the musical journey of my dreams. Charlie Parr put it so well âjust play moreâ so I do. To keep out of any rut I play 6 string acoustic guitars as well as a steel resonator and a solid body resonator with humbuckers this gives me a wealth of different types of music to enjoy (blues can be played nice and slow. I go to jam sessions, folk sessions, open mics and I have a vocal coach. This has all led to my first live gig recently which was great fun. Donât give up, get out there, musicians are the nicest people you could meet.
9 Likes