Horribly Unmotivated

General Music Discussion
#41

Well it’s great to hear that you are at least doing better physically bro. Mental health is something you can at least work on and have some level of control over.

I too am on a break from guitar, as you may of gathered based on my absence from this forum. I pick it up every now and then and have a noodle for 10 mins but my fingers have lost their calasses and strength so I’m really really sloppy and loose.
It’s really because of lack of time and energy but I’m sure that in the future I will be playing again regularly, especially when I finally get my JEM, which is getting closer and more likely the more I work and fix all the problems with my house. It’s hard to justify it when your house has no heating and roof issues that requires your hard earned cash instead. To think that I was considering buying a JEM and sitting in the freezing cold all winter playing it :thinking:, I’m an idiot sometimes but mental health does play a part as buying that thing Ive wanted for years would no doubt cheer me up, for a while anyway.

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#42

I should print this out and put in on my walls. Guitar is definitely a big part of most of us here. We all need to remember to control our expectations, especially some of us who started really late in life. And not get caught emotionally frustrated, there are plenty of other things that life throws at us, hard to be a monk too. I love that show’s name, curb your enthusiasm, watch out for the cliff round the corner.

I’ve been there mid YJM journey. Also putting things off waiting for a particular piece of gear is a trap I have to remember to avoid. Brand guitars these days cost an arm or a leg for an American/European made version. I was pleasantly shocked with the quality of guitars around the 150 to 200 dollar price point.

I hope you guys feel better and start playing again, life is too short. But then again do as I say, not as I do :slight_smile:

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#43

Alex Lifeson said when Neil Peart’s daughter was killed - and when Neil himself died, he didn’t play and didn’t see the point for a year or so.

Everyone grieves. It’s not optional. How (and for how long) depends on the person.

Given the loss the OP experienced, this quote may come off as tone-deaf. It’s not my intent, but when I feel like “I don’t wanna!”, this comes to mind:

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightening to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself.”

― Chuck Close

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#44

I like that. For example most of our guitar heros who we think have everything, many of them have issues with drugs, sure touring can be a cause of that, but I think it’s a lack of satisfaction with ourselves that causes a desire for more. Even they often think they aren’t that great.
As long as we have a good relationship with the instrument we are acually in a better place than many musicians, we don’t have bigger than life legends that people expect us to live up too. In many ways it’s a blessing to have guitar be just a part of our lives and not the main focus.

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#45

This is good advice! I have often been guilty of this trope. Keep on moving… is what I tell myself when I can remember it.

#46

I completely agree with that quote, but… haha… work for most people is their day job and depending on how demanding it is, that job can take all of your energy, creative or physical energy. I definitely find inspiration in my work life at the most unexpected moments by just plowing on. But that plowing on at work, day after day, week after week, month after month, sucks the energy from me and means I find it hard to even think about playing at the moment, it’s like I know I don’t have the energy to devote to it so it’s not even worth playing. For Fossegrim his energy is taken up with health struggles so we can’t blame him for that. Health takes priority over guitar playing for most. For me paying the bills and health are taking priority over playing guitar currently, I need to find some extra energy to get back to playing regularly again but I just don’t have it atm.

#47

Health definitely takes precedence over everything else. And it can get into a vicious circle of misery. Lines get blurry and next thing you know your in a spiral and out of control. There’s nowhere else to to go but up, when you bottom out.

Your talking about the grind of work, I too find it hard to balance things out, guitar playing from my experience to keep constant progress only needs 30 mins a day, if one can manage that consistency I think that can be therapeutic by itself.

I’m beginning to think, balance is the secret to life. And it’s really hard for some of us to manage it, I think three to five priorities would be amazing if one can pull it off.

I hope Fossegrim’s situation gets better. Autophagy is a thing now, not sure if it’s of any value here.

#48

Fuck yeah it can! That work life balance people go on about, well that must be for the wealthy, because I don’t even know what that is or how it’s even possible. Some nights I can’t even bring myself to eat, and have to just call it.

You’re not alone in that. It’s particularly bad if you are in charge of other people.

Well it’s that for me and of course the work life balance. It’s the fact that chasing around health issues, many of which I didn’t have previously, has taken up what remaining time I possibly had for those things, and it really wasn’t supposed to be that. it has become a second job with none of the financial benefits. Spending all your waking time with a job and people you can’t stand on top of all the health stuff, instead of anything enjoyable is mentally defeating. You are constantly exhausted with nothing to show for it. It’s even gone as far as researching what “substances” can be used relatively safely.

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#49

Balance isn’t the only secret, but its an enormous factor. Kind of like practicing 8 hours in a day…or one hour over 8 days.

You get WAY more from spreading it out.

Also - I’m reminded of another quote, this time by authoer/researcher Jim Collins, and I agree with it:

If you have more than three priorities, you don’t have any. For every major ‘to-do’ on your list, you should have a corresponding item that you will stop doing. The ‘stop-doing’ list.

Way easier said than done…but worth striving toward.

#50

I’d like to take this one step further. I heard…someone…say that there should be no “plural” version of the word “priority”. There can really only ever be one priority. We can’t really work on even 2 things at once and give both our full attention. At least, I can’t :slight_smile:

Total agreement. In total hypocrisy to my above statement, I probably have 5 different high importance projects at work right now that are all somehow “priority”. Best I can do is allocate specific time for each one on various days before moving onto another. Hopefully they’ll all get done around the same time lol!

#51

How’s things @Fossegrim ? Is your health any better ? Would be great to see you back posting some cool licks and advice on here soon but I know your health and job has to come first.

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#52

@SlyVai getting there. It turns out I was infected with CMV for who knows how long. The viral load was pretty crazy when they finally tested for it. Most people with functioning immune systems actually have it and it doesn’t affect them, it just lays dormant indefinitely. Because I was overly immunosuppressed as it turns out, it messed me up.

I’m finally got to a point the last two weeks where I have some energy back. I need to start practicing up now.

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#53

If the guitar and or amp don’t sound the way you like it’ll be much harder to keep playing it. I suffered for decades with crappy gear because I didn’t feel like I deserved it because I sucked. Once I got my dream rig, I can’t walk by without thinking about the tone and wanting to play it. Only down side is having to wait for the amp to warm up. I don’t know why you’re uninterested but this is why I am interested so I figured maybe it would help.

#54

Great news @Fossegrim ! Hope you continue to feel better, good the doctors figured it out in the end and hopefully you won’t have to work for years to pay for their services. That said the main thing is that you’re feeling better and can try get back to a normal life

#55

All the best for your recovery @Fossegrim !!!

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#56

Great news, hope all aspects of life get better for you sooner than later.

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#57

@Fossegrim how’s things bro? Are you recovered now from your medical problems? I see you are posting on here again so I hope that means you are playing again and enjoying it !

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#58

Thanks for checking in man! I really appreciate it. I am playing somewhat, mostly unplugged. I have spent most of the last few weeks with guitar in hand. Mostly just a Mexican Strat I bought in 2005.

I think I mentioned above that I started finishing up a lot of projects I had on the back burner for a while - 3 guitars and a few pcb projects (see below). I’m still kind of doing that because I go through bouts of hyper fixation and can’t leave things alone until they are done because I tell myself that once I get these done. I can then do what I want to do. I really need to stop doing that.

As an aside. I may post up some of these things that may be of musical interest as throw aways in the misc section.

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How have you been living? Did you end up pulling the trigger on any of those ibby’s or or go full JEM?

#59

Hey bro good to hear from you and that you’re playing again, and you can design PCBs there’s no end to your talents !

For sure I’d be interested in any custom electronic design stuff you do so would be good to see it on here. I did a degree in music tech with electronics but never put it to use in my career or as a hobby.

I still haven’t got my JEM or RG was very close to buying one a few months ago but tbh I’m not playing at all nowadays, just trying to concentrate on work and trying to get my house up together.
My calasses on my fingers have gone so when I play I can only stand the pain for a small amount of time.

#60

Noooooooo! Pick up that guitar If only for a second. At the very least just look at it. I do understand the bustle of everyday life makes it hard though. I often lament over the fact that most of us spend the majority of our waking lives surrounded by people we can at best barely tolerate, doing things we can’t stand, and in comparison spend only a small portion (4 or 5 hours at best) around the people and things we actually do care about. That thought crosses my mind at least once a day. :laughing:

The PCB stuff I only do occasionally these days, especially for bigger more complicated designs with a lot of mixed signal routing. Much like your line of work, it is often thanklessly time consuming and requires a lot of attention, revision, and knowledge of what potential interactions can occur when routing traces, especially for anything audio related.

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