My dad is a surfer through and through. The guy lives and breathes surfing. So naturally, I grew up around it. It’s not my first love, like it is for him; that would be playing the guitar. 😁 But I do really enjoy it! It’s a part of me. Being immersed in the world of surfing, I got to hear all about these legends in the surfing world. One of those legends was big wave surfer Laird Hamilton. That dude rides waves so big you and I would cry. To put it in perspective, a 10-15 foot wave can hold you under for what feels like an eternity. Laird is riding 50+ foot waves. 🤯

I recently heard an interview with Laird and Rick Rubin (legendary producers). Laird was saying something to the effect of “You need to fall a thousand times” (remember, falling in big-wave surfing is life-threatening) “before you are able to succeed.” Like Ed Sheeran once said, “You learn nothing from success.” Failure, making mistakes, falling flat on your face – these are all part of the process.

Here’s the best part: Failure on the guitar is not life-threatening. So if Laird can ride life-threatening waves, risking the inevitable chance of falling, I think we as guitar players can keep taking chances. We can keep learning from our failures and not let them define us. Learning like this has made failure my best friend.