Guitar | Photo by Roxanne Roessner | The Wright State Guardian
A few years back, my mother bought me a guitar from a garage sale and the musical being inside of me was so excited to have another outlet. I was ready to have the calloused fingertips and ability to string together chords, but the only problem is, it has been five years and I still have no idea how to play.
Frustrations
This story starts as most do. I was excited to learn how to play the guitar when my mom brought it home for me. She even got a few books on how to teach yourself how to play. I downloaded a guitar learning app on my phone and even one for tuning the strings.
The problem was, I have the attention span of a goldfish and my hands do not know how to work together.
I have, for years, tried to teach myself how to play piano and even know the beginning of “Mad World” by Gary Jules, but the guitar does not quite click for me.
I have brought these frustrations up to others in conversations and I am always bombarded with, “Go watch YouTube,” “It just takes practice,” and “It’s so easy, you just strum.”
But what if, what if, I was never meant to learn how to play?
Just keep practicing?
I am not the type of person to just give up whenever the going gets tough, but what if there are simply certain people that are not able to play guitar? Am I among the one in a million people that, try as they may, cannot do it?
I am eyeing my guitar right now. There is so much dust on it and the books have become a little sun-bleached by sitting by the window for so long. Maybe I should just do it. Maybe I should apply myself a little more.
If I was meant to learn though, why did I not do it during quarantine? I keep asking myself these questions and give myself more excuses. I know I would like to learn, but there are so many different reasons why I have not yet.
I do this with a lot of things in my life. I am sure that other college students think the same as I do. I push things off until the last minute. I forget to pursue things in my life because I use homework and my schedule to hide behind. I have forgotten what it is like to do something solely for pleasure.
Learning how to play the guitar is a lot like learning how to slow down and take time for yourself. You have to work on it and nurture the skills you are developing.
I may not know how to play guitar, but I know I can learn how to give myself that same breathing space. I urge you to do the same. Not everyone can learn the guitar, but everyone can learn to treat themselves with love and care.
