I like to do a lot of things in my life. I like to do a lot of things that involve my hands. Things like fixing the car, gardening, camping, sport and so on. Now, I can hear you thinking “what on earth is he on about” but bear with me. Doing things with your hands can leave them in a state of disrepair. It could be something as bad as a broken or sliced finger, all the way down to just hardening the skin and leaving you with less dexterity than you had.
I used to do all these things with reckless abandon, but the longer I spend as a full time guitar player and teacher the more nervous about my hands I get. I do have them insured but I really don’t think that money would help me much if I ended up unable to play the guitar. I’ve stopped playing sports that need my hands, and I am very aware of them when I’m fixing things and thinking about a garden in my future.
It’s all part of what you have to put to one side to devote yourself to something as time hungry and consuming as learning a musical instrument to a professional degree.
And do you know what?
I wouldn’t change it.
/h
