Anyone else ever feel this way?

Come on… BE HONEST!

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I am sure “it” has happened to you.  “It” happened to me last month.

I was in the neighborhood of my local guitar store (which will remain unnamed) and I had some free time .  Whenever I get a chance to stop in and browse, I do.  It was the perfect “kid in a candy store” opportunity, and I wanted to see the newest candy.

For the record, I don’t just write about guitars… I also play the guitar.  For further record, I am still a beginner.  On a good day, I am somewhere between a beginner and an intermediate player.

(My challenge is the same as so many other guitar players I know.  I work full time and have to balance the remaining free time between family, household chores and sleep.  I practice and play guitar in the remaining time — which is not very much)

So… back to the candy store.  I mean… guitar store.  I walk in and do what I do every time I walk in that store.  I stand there and stare, gaze, dream, covet and drool. There is eye-candy everywhere and the first decision to be made is where to start looking.

Since I wanted to check out the new Taylor T3, I strolled over to the “high-end” guitar wall where the Taylor electric’s were hanging.  Sure enough, they had the guitar of my dreams — today’s dream at least — and I asked Ted (not his real name) to pull down the T3 so I could hold it.

It was a simple request, but that’s when “it” happened.

Before Ted could honor my simple request and hand me the guitar, he subjected me to a :30 second “Ted the Shred-Master” concert featuring Ted on lead guitar.  No offense, but I personally am not a shred-fan.  I can tolerate some of it, but not for long.  And :30 seconds was about :25 seconds longer than I cared to listen to Ted shred on a T3.

I just wanted to hold the guitar.  If it felt right, I may have wanted to plug it in to a Fender Twin Reverb and practice my 1-4-5 progressions.  Heck, I may even buy one some day!  But no, Ted had to show me what he can do.  He had to show off his chops.

The problem with that is that while I am not a shred guitar fan, Ted was clearly a better guitar player than me.  And when he did what he did, he intimidated me to the point that I was not going to play one note in front of Ted.

So when I came across this comic of Buddy & Hopkins, it reminded me of that Saturday afternoon in the unnamed guitar store… It also reminded me that I need to go back and play that T3 for myself…

This is a very interesting cartoon.

It is funny because of what it says about Jimi Hendrix… but it is also a serious illustration of the economic times we currently face.

I have way too many friends who have lost their jobs.

I have way too many friends who are in jeopardy of losing their homes, because they have lost their jobs.

I have way too many friends who are losing their self-esteem, because other people (read: hiring managers) are telling them that they are not qualified for the job.

I have way too many friends who are looking for work and hiring managers are too narrow-minded to recognize talent – even when talent is sitting right in front of them.

We are a nation of incredibly artistic people and we need to open our minds to the fact that we are un-employing and under-employing thousands of gifted minds.

What if Jimi Hendrix was not given the opportunity to play guitar on a national stage because he was not “experienced” enough? What a tragedy that would have been… for everyone.

If you are reading this post and you are unemployed, looking for work, frustrated and discouraged… please keep your head high. You did not get to where you are in life by failing. You are where you are because of the amazing accomplishments and the seemingly insurmountable odds you overcame to get there.

Your day will come and your opportunity will come. Stay focused. Keep the faith. Send me an email and I will pray that the higher power we all believe in will provide direction for you.

Thanks for reading and thanks for allowing me to post something slightly off the usual buzz…