🎙️ Episode 8

Title: “Do Four Guitars Make Me a Musician or Just Sentimental?”

The ADHD art spiral, brought to you by keyboards and one tiny violin.

🎵 [Imaginary intro music: Ukulele strum → record scratch → grand piano flourish → squirrel squeak → whimsical music box fade-out]

Hi. I’m Angela. Queen of Focus-ish.

And I have… a confession.

I currently own:

• 4 guitars
• 2 ukuleles
• 1 baby violin
• 5 keyboards
  (collected from friends, family, and possibly a neighborhood yard sale where I blacked out emotionally and woke up with a Yamaha under my arm)

Now before you judge me — know this:
I am not a minimalist.
I am an emotional curator.
I don’t collect clutter.
I collect versions of myself I’m not ready to let go of.

🎤 Every Instrument Is a Portal

• One guitar was from my friend Bobby when he passed. This guitar was the closest thing to actualize my singer songwriter career during my brief stint in Franklin Tennessee.
• One tiny guitar was for bonding with Cody, who strummed one C chord and promptly wandered off to play Minecraft instead of learning Suzuki Method.
• The baby violin? Oh, that was aspirational energy. Inspired by a Pixar movie and three YouTube tutorials of kids who could play concertos by 5.
• And the keyboards? I swear they just… appear. Like piano cats. Needy. Slightly dusty. Occasionally majestic.

They’re not just stuff.
They’re soundtracks to versions of me I miss:

• 🎤 The artist
• 🥁 The brave one
• 🎧 The one who believed music could fix everything (and honestly… maybe it still can)
  
  

🎶 The Music Spiral

One morning, I decided to “tidy up.”
Just move things around. Reclaim space. Vacuum up some glitter.

Instead, I pulled them all out — every instrument.
I laid them across the room like a music museum curated by a very distracted squirrel.
Then I sat in the middle of it all, holding a sparkly guitar pick, crying to a playlist titled:

“Who Even Am I Right Now”

Because in that moment, surrounded by strings and potential…
I remembered I don’t just own music.
I carry it.

Even if I haven’t played in a while.
Even if my guitar is dusty.
Even if I only know four chords and they’re all moody.

🧠 The Real Breakthrough

I don’t need to master all of them.
I don’t need to form a one-woman ADHD folk band.
I just need to remember:

I am still the kind of person who keeps instruments in the house…
just in case a feeling needs a sound.

I made a little shelf for my ukuleles.
I gently dusted the keyboards.
I gave the violin a nod like, “Not today, friend. But someday.”

And that was enough.

🎵Subscribe to Doom Piles & Distractions.

Next episode: I try to sort my craft supplies… and end up applying for an LLC.

Until then:

• Play something
• Even if it’s one note
• Even if you’re rusty
• Even if your squirrel squad covers their ears in tiny headphones
  
  

🐿️✨
Learn more (or find show notes, playlists, and possibly emotional ukulele content) at AngelaDiCarlo.com

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