I’d long had this notion that I wanted to learn to play the guitar, a desire that vigorously stayed in the vague someday category because, let’s be honest, what I really wanted was to magically be able to play without the work of learning. I guess I was waiting around to get hit on the head and wake up a musician. I never even picked up a guitar.
I think I am not alone in this desire to learn the guitar without effort. We want all sorts of things to happen like that.
Then COVID came.
The calluses on my fingertips now are firm. I trim my nails every three days. My rapid memorization of chords, my waking in the middle of the night to silently move my hands and practice progressions — this is strange. Strange because I am a lazy person when it comes to things I find difficult, such as math, watering houseplants, and playing musical instruments of all kinds. So this sudden focus and attention . . . well, I can’t really account for it.
