My daughter, let me tell you about one of the better decisions I’ve made in my life. If you haven’t already, you will likely hear your uncle and I play music together. We don’t play together often. But when we sit down with instruments, it isn’t long before we’re speaking in melody like old friends. The only thing that’s changed is that we can now afford more expensive instruments. Ironically, though, we frequently revert back to playing the first acoustic guitar either of us owned. Time has not been kind to this thing. It’s cheap, with a body of dingy plastic. It’s been submerged in water and cracked by cold, dry Utah air. Certain frets buzz when you play them. It loses tuning often. And it’s one of my favorite instruments I’ve ever played. I love it because years ago that ugly beast of a guitar taught me that beautiful music is made in the relationship between musician and instrument. If I think my instrument is only capable of producing bad sounds, then I am only going to get bad sounds. If I know my instrument can make music, then I can jam with the best of them. Once I decided to always believe the latter, well, you can put a shard of glass and a slab of concrete in my hand, and I’ll give you a jig to dance your toes to. So listen, my daughter, why do I tell you this? Because the same goes for people. You will inevitably surround yourself with the human equivalent of fine, handcrafted instruments. You should, too, put yourself among the smartest, most professional individuals you can. But never exclude the value offered by people you judge as less important. If you treat them like they are only capable of making bad sounds, then you’ll get bad sounds. If you treat them like they can make music, then you will get great, great music. #musicfeedsthesoul #guitarlessons #fatherlessons #parenting