Narrowing It Down
A week ago I took a sort-of electric guitar lesson from a friend of mine. It was more of a “how it works” than a “how you play it” kind of thing. I’ve been interested in electric guitars for several years now (Guitar Hero and Rock Band are to blame, I think), but didn’t really know how they worked. I was familiar with acoustic guitars and the strumming and even a few chords, but I couldn’t really wrap my brain around how it worked. I asked Scott if he wouldn’t mind showing me some things. He was happy to, and I learned some neat stuff (neatest to me was that the amp you use has more to do with the sound than the actual guitar).
The most important thing I learned, though, is the electric guitar is not for me. Yes, it was fascinating to learn about, but I knew after the half hour we spent on it that I didn’t want to learn how to play it. I’m not sure I can explain that, I just knew. No big deal, I still learned.
It struck me, though that there are many things I know I don’t want to do, more so than I know what I do want to do. Â It’s a lot easier to put things in the Nope column than the Yep column. It isn’t a fear of trying new things, either. I’ve considered them, thought about them, even learned about them, and knew for a reason or several that I wouldn’t enjoy them. Hobbies, jobs – same deal. Â I am equally sure that I want to be neither a janitor nor a surgeon. Â Both jobs gross me out.
I feel like I’m starting to be defined by the Nopes, though. That doesn’t feel like a good thing. But I guess at the same time, you need to know the Nopes to get to the Yeps.
The next things on my list to see about are cross-stitch and model building.  I’ll let you know how those go.