I asked for a guitar for my tenth birthday after watching the classic Disney Channel Original Movie (aka D-COM) Stuck in the Suburbs. After receiving this treasured gift (and covering it with stickers like Brittany did in the movie), I consequently taught myself the six strings, basic chords, and tablature. The beginning of sixth grade marked the beginning of classical lessons, which I continued all throughout middle and high school, and the purchase of a more sophisticated, adult-sized, and sticker-less guitar. The beginning of ninth grade marked my discovery of the YouTube music community and increasing desire to learn more modern guitar songs. I begged my parents to buy me an acoustic-electric guitar, an exact copy of the one I had seen one of my favorite musicians on YouTube play. I teamed up with a friend of mine who loved to sing, and throughout four years of high school we played covers at dozens of school coffee houses and open mic nights in the community.
In my prime, I practiced guitar at least two hours a day, switching off seamlessly between my classical and my acoustic-electric. I had permanent callouses on the fingers of my left hand. I brought my acoustic-electric to camp with me each summer and played at campfires. At one point, I had even fancied myself a songwriter.
Before freshman year of college, I faced the difficult decision of whether I wanted to bring one or both of my guitars with me to school. I decided against it, claiming that I wanted to focus on other things in college. I was starting to lose my interest in guitar anyway, and there was no way two large instruments were going to fit my dad’s Camry alongside all of the other luggage I was bringing with me. I’ve barely played guitar since.
This winter break, I returned home after not touching a guitar for months. It had been two and a half years since I had practiced seriously, learned a new song, or read music and tablature. But something came over me. I wanted to make music again. I pulled my stunning black beauty from its case, with its strings old and out of tune and its wood a little chipped from that one time I took it on an airplane, and played.
I had forgotten almost every song I had learned and the strings made painful dents in my fingers where those callouses used to be, but I played on.
Nobody is exactly the same person in college as they are in middle and high school. We have different friends, develop a different style, and have different interests. Playing guitar was such a huge part of my life for so long, and just because I have stopped playing does not mean that I do not still love it. I am just a different person than I was when I practiced seriously.
So to all of you who have retired your ballet shoes, stopped scribbling in sketchbooks, or thrown out your shin guards, don’t be upset. That love you have for an old hobby is still there, even if you have transitioned to a different part of you life.
Image Credit: Nat Raum and YouTube