All my guitars are orange – How did this happen?

I haven’t had all my guitars in the same space for a while, but I had to move them together for some construction work in the basement.  Once I did this, I was a tad dismayed by the sight.  They’re basically, all orange.¹

Orange is generally my favorite color, or at least close to the top of the list, but I’m not nearly this excited about it.  There was no moment when I said that I want more orange guitars or anything like that.  It just seems to be a habit I fell into.

 

I even somewhat recently painted the les paul orange, and everything else you see was already in my possession before I made that choice.

 

It really bothers me.  It’s like when you take your first real job and start becoming a grown up, and all the sudden 5 or so years fly by without you realizing.  Then one year you catch on to what’s happening and it’s really sad.

 

No, having orange guitars isn’t sad, but falling into the same old habit without realizing is.  I used to try and get guitars that looked different in many ways – color, body style, shape, etc.  While I still have part of that equation, they all kind of blend in to me when the color is so similar.  That makes me less excited to play them.

 

Yes, I’m babbling on about paint color a lot.  Mostly because I see it as a bit of a metaphor for what happens to our playing all the time.

 

Habits sneak up without us realizing them.  Who cares if they are good or bad, they often make things less interesting.  If you’ve been playing a while, you’re bound to find yourself always playing the same key, or chords or licks.

 

It’s not a style thing, it’s a comfort thing.  Like hanging out at the same bar all the time, it takes away any potential for surprise.  It slows down your progress as a human.  It makes you less creative.

 

So when I stare at a batch of guitars that, to me, all look the same… I get bored before I even pick one up.  I feel like my playing gets into those bland periods of sameness as well.

So new goal – paint one of them the opposite of orange.  Blue!