That’s funny, my wife has repeatedly told me that she wishes I played guitar (acoustic) again more…

And she’s made less subtle hints, but she understands and is supportive.

I’m in a single family house, so I’m lucky most of the time I can play freely. But I have to play early morning or late evening sometimes and use various mutes in those instances.

I also realized that its important to spend a certain minimum amount of time playing music so that we get some fulfillment/enjoyment from our playing and to keep is honest and provide perspective to how we’re doing–What Can we do, What Can’t we do, etc.

There are times I feel down or frustrated about my lack of progress, then I try playing a piece of music and nail a hard note or passage better than ever, or vice versa–I feel great about hitting some note during technical exercises but then cant seem to play it musically with articulation, dynamic control, etc.

So much of our playing is mental. There are days (Yesterday!) I know I’m not in the right mindset from the beginning and its probably better to just call it a day early on, or not even play.

Listening to music or watching videos of other players playing or talking about playing, or just taking a total break and doing something else, usually helps get my mind back into a good place for the next day.