Help me

JOOOHHHNNNN!!! OMFG I HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!! I’m so sorry I can’t give a detailed response right now as I’m getting ready for a meeting but my alert went off that you posted and I HAD to say something!! I’ll write more later. I’ll answer your concern as best as I can

Now that I have some appropriate time I want to give you a real answer. I was just so excited to see you back on the school. If you are going through anything busy in your life, you can lose your passion for anything including life itself. I want you to know that it is not uncommon. When my friend was going through her massage therapy school and because she is blind, I wanted to help her get to school and help her with her homework. It was almost two years that I didn’t really get to focus on guitar that much because everything in life got overwhelming. But then I realized it was all about time management. Things that we don’t really want to do drain us dry to where we no longer have the desire or The Willpower or the energy to do the things we love to do. And in the end it hurts us even more so and we don’t realize it. What I have learned that works best for me, is to make myself put the time in or I am not happy. You can always have guitar as a hobby or as a passion. If it is a hobby then you need to understand what you want to do. With someone who just does it as a hobby they don’t really care if they get better or not. They also don’t really care if they lose the passion or not. It’s very indifferent for them. However because you are expressing concern with your current state with it that shows me that it’s actually a passion and not just a hobby. This is something that you do that makes you happy. And you owe it to yourself that regardless of all the other obligations that life throws at you, you owe it to yourself to focus on something that makes you happy. Your sanity and your livelihood depends on it. I would honestly just dedicate 20 minutes a day. Believe it or not John, 20 minutes a day can make wonders happen. Practicing 20 minutes a day 7 days a week is far more appropriate and productive than practicing 4 hours a day three times a week. I take it like a diet. Every single thing you do can be based off of working towards your goal. For example, are you going to cook at home or you going to eat at McDonald’s again? Are you going to mindlessly browse the internet for 20 minutes or are you going to jump on the school and do one lesson? And the same thing goes for working out. It doesn’t do you any good to workout 2 times a week at the gym for 3 hours. It’s always better in the long run to put minimal time in but every single day. If it offers you any type of encouragement, some of the times I feel I improved the most is when I only practice for 3 hours at a time and sometimes even less because by then my brain is fried and I need a break and a refresher. All I know is that you have improved so much from when I last saw your videos. Perhaps it’s time for you to find that next step to challenge yourself. Over the last year, I went from being scared to put up a video of me playing on here that showed my face because of my body insecurities, to full-on on playing on stage with a live band for the first time in front of people that was not at a party. And I put the whole video up. I’m also in the studio finally recording our album. I was losing my mind being stuck in my bedroom all day with no profits to show for it and all my hard work. I think it might be good of you to maybe try to write a simple song and get into a small-scale studio or even just recorded something fun on your phone. Maybe go to a live Jam even. Sit in with a cover band. Do anything and everything you can to take it to the next step. Sometimes we feel we lose our passion when it gets mundane and repetitive and predictable.

You don’t owe us a scale you owe yourself a scale. You don’t owe us anything, my friend.You owe everything to yourself and only yourself. There’s something that seems ‘forced’ about your thoughts. It’s almost like you’re punishing yourself when you say “When my character dies I OWE YOU GUYS a scale”. Playing guitar isn’t a punishment or a debt/duty owed for anything. Let’s all admit that playing a game is easier than guitar. I’m a victim of being addicted to that damn Gardenscapes game. They’re fun, relaxing, enjoyable with instant gratification.
But I feel you are getting down because you’re spending more time on your game than guitar and it’s showing. I’m sorry but you can’t be a Master of All Trades. That’s why the phrase exists “Jack of All Trades, Master of None.” Yes Syn can play several instruments, BUT… he’s a MASTER at one of them. You can be multi-talented if you dedicate your time right. But I guarantee you Syn didn’t become an amazing pianist/guitarist by playing video games all day. If passion lies in both gaming and guitar, you need to give equal attention to each; no questions.

That’s a great point, Ethan! And just because you’re a beginner doesn’t mean you can’t teach someone, something I’ve learned a lot from the beginners on here!