Don't loose sight of how far you've come!

AGA · Feb 20, 2020

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some thoughts with all of you.
I'm sitting here playing my guitar, warming up very slowly and getting some very nice tone out of my notes.
I'm playing a few chords, having a really good time. A few nice little bends here and there and I say to myself.
"I am good enough".

We always tend to compare ourselves with other people, we tell ourselves we are bad at something, or that something is hard for us and pretty soon we start to believe it and behave that way.
We feel embarrassed, or not good enough to play with others or in front of other people.
We feel afraid of rejection or that others will make fun of us.
And we forget the most important thing of all, which is to play for ourselves.
Play music because you enjoy it, because it brings you joy or it helps you express yourself.

I've been guilty of all these myself, but I'm done with that. I'm not gonna keep stunting my own growth and development by trying to be someone else and never measuring up to them.
This school has helped me answer the question I could never answer before, "Which kind of guitar player do you want to be?"
And I realized, I'm not Syn, or Slash, or Jimmy Page... I'm Aileé.
And guitar is a lifelong pursuit, it will take me my whole lifetime to develop my style and that is ok.

There will always be growth to do and much improvement to make, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy where you are at today.

Jacques · Feb 20, 2020

Aileé Guerra Aréizaga said:
Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some thoughts with all of you.
I'm sitting here playing my guitar, warming up very slowly and getting some very nice tone out of my notes.
I'm playing a few chords, having a really good time. A few nice little bends here and there and I say to myself.
"I am good enough".

We always tend to compare ourselves with other people, we tell ourselves we are bad at something, or that something is hard for us and pretty soon we start to believe it and behave that way.
We feel embarrassed, or not good enough to play with others or in front of other people.
We feel afraid of rejection or that others will make fun of us.
And we forget the most important thing of all, which is to play for ourselves.
Play music because you enjoy it, because it brings you joy or it helps you express yourself.

I've been guilty of all these myself, but I'm done with that. I'm not gonna keep stunting my own growth and development by trying to be someone else and never measuring up to them.
This school has helped me answer the question I could never answer before, "Which kind of guitar player do you want to be?"
And I realized, I'm not Syn, or Slash, or Jimmy Page... I'm Aileé.
And guitar is a lifelong pursuit, it will take me my whole lifetime to develop my style and that is ok.

There will always be growth to do and much improvement to make, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy where you are at today.

Well put, I really needed to hear something like that!

Kai C · Feb 20, 2020

You're awesome @Aileé Guerra Aréizaga

I always feel scared playing in front of others. The other night I picked up my acoustic and played in front of some guys from work and I messed up so bad. But it was fun. You're right, do it for yourself, not them.

Adin Shepherd · Feb 20, 2020

Wise words @Aileé Guerra Aréizaga, and so very true.

AGA · Feb 20, 2020

Kai C said:
You're awesome @Aileé Guerra Aréizaga

I always feel scared playing in front of others. The other night I picked up my acoustic and played in front of some guys from work and I messed up so bad. But it was fun. You're right, do it for yourself, not them.

I agree, and most of the fear lives in our heads. People don't care about our mistakes, if we treat them like it's nothing and just keep going, so do the other people.

AGA · Feb 20, 2020

Adin Shepherd said:
Wise words @Aileé Guerra Aréizaga, and so very true.

Thank you Adin!

Lindsey · Feb 21, 2020

Well said.
I've actually fallen back a few bpm in speed, (I need the speed for certain songs I want to play) my hands are stiff and I hardly remember anything out of my head. But at the same time I can go back to songs I used to play, or tried to play, and realise I suddenly can play them better. That's a wonderful feeling.
Progress isn't always in plain sight, sometimes you need to take a step back to see it.

Andrew Milner · Feb 21, 2020

Aileé Guerra Aréizaga said:
And I realized, I'm not Syn, or Slash, or Jimmy Page... I'm Aileé.

Shit like that took me way too many years to figure out. I mean, you know, I am Andrei, not Aileé, but you get what I'm saying.

In all seriousness though, without getting too bloody philosophical or anything, one of the many things I see people struggle with, regardless of their field or domain, is accepting who they are. Accepting yourself, good and bad, is something that seems easy. It's not, because of the f*****g shame you always feel for either not being good enough or trying too much to pretend you're something you are not or can ever hope/want to be.

I know I'll probably be able to play as good as Syn does now if I spent, I dunno, 20 years practicing my craft. And I figured I don't really want to be or can be because I have a bunch of other stuff that gives me an interest in music aside from guitar. Like learning how to sing and you know, actually learning how to record my songs...and write my lyrics, that shit is hard.

There are so many tangents in this post it can be a math class for dummies, but in the end, what you're saying is so...damn...true.

Nocturne · Feb 21, 2020

That's good to have this in mind sometimes, thank you for these words.

Alicia Willis · Feb 21, 2020

I can’t love this enough ! I think we’ve all felt that way at one point. I’ve been trying not to get down myself lately because it takes me longer to learn things than others. I used to always compare myself and ask why I couldn’t pick it up as quickly as they did. But, I’m not them. I’m me. I can only do MY best effort, and that’s good enough
Thanks for this lovely reminder !

Edward John · Feb 22, 2020

Andrei Moraru said:
Shit like that took me way too many years to figure out. I mean, you know, I am Andrei, not Aileé, but you get what I'm saying.

In all seriousness though, without getting too bloody philosophical or anything, one of the many things I see people struggle with, regardless of their field or domain, is accepting who they are. Accepting yourself, good and bad, is something that seems easy. It's not, because of the f*****g shame you always feel for either not being good enough or trying too much to pretend you're something you are not or can ever hope/want to be.

I know I'll probably be able to play as good as Syn does now if I spent, I dunno, 20 years practicing my craft. And I figured I don't really want to be or can be because I have a bunch of other stuff that gives me an interest in music aside from guitar. Like learning how to sing and you know, actually learning how to record my songs...and write my lyrics, that shit is hard.

There are so many tangents in this post it can be a math class for dummies, but in the end, what you're saying is so...damn...true.

I think I get what you are saying, we don't all have divine blessing like the shred God Chad Kroeger!

Angela Tunali · Feb 22, 2020

Aileé Guerra Aréizaga said:
Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some thoughts with all of you.
I'm sitting here playing my guitar, warming up very slowly and getting some very nice tone out of my notes.
I'm playing a few chords, having a really good time. A few nice little bends here and there and I say to myself.
"I am good enough".

We always tend to compare ourselves with other people, we tell ourselves we are bad at something, or that something is hard for us and pretty soon we start to believe it and behave that way.
We feel embarrassed, or not good enough to play with others or in front of other people.
We feel afraid of rejection or that others will make fun of us.
And we forget the most important thing of all, which is to play for ourselves.
Play music because you enjoy it, because it brings you joy or it helps you express yourself.

I've been guilty of all these myself, but I'm done with that. I'm not gonna keep stunting my own growth and development by trying to be someone else and never measuring up to them.
This school has helped me answer the question I could never answer before, "Which kind of guitar player do you want to be?"
And I realized, I'm not Syn, or Slash, or Jimmy Page... I'm Aileé.
And guitar is a lifelong pursuit, it will take me my whole lifetime to develop my style and that is ok.

There will always be growth to do and much improvement to make, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy where you are at today.

well said!

Sayonil Mitra · Feb 23, 2020

This is a beautiful post and one of the reasons what makes this school so awesome. This happened to me quite a while back when I met this friend who was a good guitarist. His style was(and is) very different from mine. I became a little bit doubtful of my own playing instead of learning good stuff from him. Later, I had to sit down, listen to my own playing carefully. It took sometime to fully understand and appreciate my own style (which is still an ongoing process) but at least the doubt and comparison is out of the window now

Brian Haner Sr. · Feb 23, 2020

Beautiful! We can learn from our idols and let them inform our playing - but we have to be who we are. We all have different physical capabilities and we hear differently. Practice and be the best "you" that you can be.

AGA · Feb 23, 2020

Andrei Moraru said:
Shit like that took me way too many years to figure out. I mean, you know, I am Andrei, not Aileé, but you get what I'm saying.

In all seriousness though, without getting too bloody philosophical or anything, one of the many things I see people struggle with, regardless of their field or domain, is accepting who they are. Accepting yourself, good and bad, is something that seems easy. It's not, because of the f*****g shame you always feel for either not being good enough or trying too much to pretend you're something you are not or can ever hope/want to be.

I know I'll probably be able to play as good as Syn does now if I spent, I dunno, 20 years practicing my craft. And I figured I don't really want to be or can be because I have a bunch of other stuff that gives me an interest in music aside from guitar. Like learning how to sing and you know, actually learning how to record my songs...and write my lyrics, that shit is hard.

There are so many tangents in this post it can be a math class for dummies, but in the end, what you're saying is so...damn...true.

Thank you, I agree. It seems like it would be easy but it really isn't. But once you get to that place where you accept yourself, you really start discovering your genius the things you can offer that nobody else can.

AGA · Feb 23, 2020

Brian Haner Sr. said:
Beautiful! We can learn from our idols and let them inform our playing - but we have to be who we are. We all have different physical capabilities and we hear differently. Practice and be the best "you" that you can be.

Love this! I agree!

Edward John · Feb 24, 2020

Brian Haner Sr. said:
Beautiful! We can learn from our idols and let them inform our playing - but we have to be who we are. We all have different physical capabilities and we hear differently. Practice and be the best "you" that you can be.

Well said Papa.

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