Focused again

Okay, I haven’t really felt like writing much this week. I’m focused on other things and haven’t thought as much about it. I did write the stuff about Ben and enjoyed that over the holidays, but that’s been about it since.

Music is on my mind right now. I’m focused again and I like it. Since I gave up the music ministry I have been floundering in the music side of my life. Without a clear purpose or direction I tend to just piddle around and not really work on my guitar skills. I have been doing some song writing but that feels futile because I don’t have an avenue to share them right now.

So, I make my up the stairs to my office, pick up a guitar, strum or pick it a while, then set it down because I’m bored. I would try some youtube teaching videos out from time to time but just couldn’t stay focused on them.

It’s frustrating and I beat myself up a lot for not being disciplined, but I’ve found that I need a purpose for playing to stay focused. That’s where David has been a help for me.

David is a guitarist friend that I’ve played in a band with. He is a really good guitar player and I like to play with him but we’ve not been in touch much because our band wasn’t doing anything. I called him the other day and he told me about a Mexican restaurant he visited and heard a couple of old guys playing music during his meal. They weren’t very good and he remarked to his wife that he thought the 2 of us could do much better if we tried. I said, “let’s do it”, and we’re going to try.

That brings me to this. I’m now practicing guitar every night trying to get up to speed on a lot of music I’ve neglected over the years. I’ve been practicing “Blackbird” all week to get it down smooth and I’ve been listening to other soft rock songs to try and get them in my head. It’s exciting to have another purpose to work for and it really keeps me motivated.

I hope I can integrate some of my songs into our mix from time to time which would be nice. It’s rather frustrating to write what you think are good songs and never have anyone but your family hear them. We’ll see how that goes. In the mean time, I’m working hard to get ready. I just have to teach my fingers to do what they need to do on the guitar. I think I can handle the vocals okay, but the guitar needs work.