NickVenturella.com 9-12-17

NickVenturella.com | GrowLoop.com | NickVmusic.net  | AutismHR.com

It's really rewarding to see an idea of yours realized to completion. Perhaps, you have a song idea that you flesh out and record for others to listen to and enjoy.  Maybe you've taken your simple story idea from a few written pages to a full-blown published novel. Even realizing your thoughts to improve internal processes for getting work done more efficiently at the office feels good. To me, what makes the act of realizing your goals empowering is that you've breathed life into an idea by building/creating it from a concept to something with a more tangible outcome. The relationship you build with your idea through the process of realizing it into something tangible has a richness to it.  You're making tons of small decisions along the way that affect the outcome. In doing so, you learn a whole lot about what you're creating -- what works, what doesn't work. You're also learning a lot about yourself and your own resilience/power to overcome obstacles when questions or challenges present themselves to you throughout the realization process. How you embrace those learning moments to move toward the end goal may just help you understand what you're capable of accomplishing in other aspects of your life.***One goal I recently accomplished was to build my own blues box guitar, also known as a cigar box guitar (typically made from an old wooden cigar box). These musical instruments are primitive guitars that originated in the south, often used to play blues music. As a musician and guitar player I am enamored by the instrument. I see guitars in general as a thing of functional beauty, and a gateway to all sorts of creativity.  I'm intrigued by what goes into making a guitar. I've always wanted to make my own guitar, so I thought maybe I would start with a smaller three stringed guitar. I also love the idea that a cigar box guitar is made primarily of found objects. So, I proceeded to find a box that was similar to a cigar box, and I found a nice piece of oak wood for the neck. Then I did research to find out how to fashion the neck and how to install the neck through the body (the box).  I even created a method of using toothpicks as fret bars that I sanded down and coated with wood glue which dried to make a hard surface, sanded them again and coated the whole neck with polyurethane to provide a smooth playable yet durable surface. I got a little creative and painted an audio cassette tape image on the body of the guitar and drilled holes through the image's tape spools to allow the sound to resonate.  I call the guitar, "The Analog." It was a fun process. I learned a ton about guitar making. I also learned a lot about what I would do differently next time. Unfortunately, this past weekend as I was finishing up the build I sliced open my index finger on my left hand, so now that the guitar is done I'm not really able to play it until this finger heals up -- one of the sacrifices of accomplishing one's goals. -------------------Regarding another topic...I'm still looking for your feedback on this newsletter if you haven't provided it already. I want to ensure I'm making the newsletter more valuable for you.  That said, please take a moment to follow the link to complete a short, 4 question survey (don't worry it's anonymous):https://goo.gl/forms/rrP09JwcQT3QHZwl1 Have a great rest of your week!Sincerely,Nick Venturella NickVenturella.comNickVmusic.net also MadVinyl.com (cover band)GrowLoop.comAutismHR.com