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This past Saturday, I found myself staying up until 3:30am in the morning working on the Violetta Parra piece called “Gracias a la vida”. The challenge with this piece is that I don’t have any sheet music for it, so I'm having to learn it by watching the YouTube video at half speed then annotating it on paper by hand… It’s tedious, but it’s fun and I’m getting it. I’ve been doing stuff like this since high school, just never as complex. But back to this 3:30am thing, it was

As I was finishing sanding the body to move on to the next steps of fitting the neck to the body, I discovered I had sanded through a part of the rosette. This has set me back, who knows how long. It could be a lengthy surgical replacement or rip the top off and start the top from scratch. You can only imagine the ‘f’ bombs I threw out of my mouth. My patience was most definitely tested. With stresses at work and now stresses in the shop, my supposed place of peace, life's

We had a shoot last night. We needed to complete some overdue interviews for the documentary. It’s also a good time to get together with the crew and get on the same page. I think I scared the crew lol. During my on camera interview I was asked about what my plans were for the performance. I’m not sure why, but I thought most of the team had an idea of what my plans were based on my blog posts and even the Facebook live concert. Although the concert will be Classical Gui

It’s been too long. I’ve thrown in some half ass blogs since I’ve been away. From Colombia to Beijing and back, its been crazy. In fact, as I write this, I’m counting eight times where I’ve left Canada in just this year alone. The opportunities, the ideas, the sights I’ve seen have been nothing but awesome. Although, I did hit a low point in the last month when my day job took over my life. A ridiculous amount of deliverables needed to be generated in an impossible timefr

My split second thoughts in blog format this week. Early in the week: What did I expect? I have more work than I ever imagined and it all needed to be done yesterday. How can I turn this into an opportunity? I’ll find a way. Mid-week: First and last time I will ever sleep at work. They should at least provide a couch. My priorities are really messed up. End of week: Off to Beijing today and my focus is still work. I’m tired, worn out, and can’t wait until to get back into

People of Colombia, I love you. Thanks for being a great host. We’ll be back . . . again and again. Great Production meeting, as usual, with the GuitarBorn project. Although, my head was not in the game. Still distracted with work. Hello work, please be kind upon my return. -- Cliff #Inspiration #Patience #Challenged

Chalk up another week of 3 hours/day of practicing!!! Yay! In between my 9-5, taking care of kids, spending time with my wife, cleaning the house, hitting the gym, and of course… sleep, I’ve managed to stay consistent. It’s all about planning the day and prioritizing. Same old story, but in practice over time is the real test. And again, just like any other muscle you are working or developing, I’ve learned that I NEED to give myself time to recover and heal. I’m getting

Life comes with challenges, and with each challenge, comes opportunity. Even though I’m stressed at work trying to get everything done all at once, I need to step back and do one thing at a time. And for that one thing, do it well. This also means that there are some things that may take priority at certain moments and time and then it will flip. Just as in the GuitarBorn project grant application, that was the last month’s priority, and now it’s flipped to my day job. So t

This has been a great week getting back on track with practicing. I’ve found ways to get at least 3 hours of practicing a day all week WITHOUT staying up too late. Remember that old routine of finishing practicing at midnight or even 1am, well it simply wasn’t sustainable. This week, I’ve got it down to around 11pm every night. Every day, I’ll look at the schedule and find where I can fit the 3 hours in and plan day by day. It’s a much more flexible approach that adapts t

The guitar build is moving in slow motion. I’ve fallen behind schedule on account of my day job priorities, and recalibrating to accommodate the Telus Storyhive ‘direction’. This is how my life and all of this has to unfold. I’m learning about myself and perhaps learning about priorities. When I’m much older, I’ll most likely come to a realization that work should never come before family, or even life altering projects like this. Although, I’m still living the mantra, "nev