Some Good Reasons to Be Lousy at Something

Dustin Wax put together a fun essay about his “lousy” guitar playing skills and why he wouldn’t give up guitar playing for the world.  

Basically, he finds that even though he’s no Hendrix, he gets a lot of benefit from playing. 

Sort of like me and my Photoshop skills.  I have no eye for such things, but I can lose myself for hours tweaking images and experimenting withfilters.

I’m a crappy guitarist. In the 20 years that I’ve been playing, I can’t once remember playing scales, and I’ve never sat down to “practice”. I still have trouble with F-chords, I have awful right-hand technique, and my tempo has been known to swing from too fast to too slow without ever hitting “just right”.

…to this day my guitar is the one thing I own that I would consider going into a burning building for. Playing guitar has stopped being something I do for everyone else (even if they weren’t listening) and has become one of the few things I do simply for the sheer enjoyment of it.

8 Good Reasons to Be a Lousy Musician

So before you throw out that old guitar, tennis racket or yoga mat.  Remember, being the best isn’t everything.  If you like it, keep at it anyway.  There are fringe benefits to be had.