It’s funny and peculiar that the more stuff and money we get the more we seem to need and want. A few months ago I decided to part with all of my guitar and studio equipment. My plan was to simplify and be content with the few pieces of gear that I kept.
It took a lot of time and work but I ended up selling everything. I even sold my USA Jackson. My wife kept me from selling it for years for sentimental reasons even though I never played it.
My USA Jackson Story
When I was a junior in high school they had a big sale near Rockville, Maryland every year. It got to the point that people would sleep in the parking lot just to get a good spot in line.
Somehow my friend Stu and I convinced our parents to let us do the same thing. Stu’s mom drove us almost 2 hours away and dropped us off in a parking lot that none of us had ever been to. We were both 16. We got in line and sat down. We were about 100th or so in line.
Let me back up. We each knew exactly what we wanted. I wanted the candy apple red USA Jackson 6-string. “Quantities were limited.” To prepare for this sale I saved up every dollar I could. I had $800 cash in my pocket. So, Stu and I were sitting in some parking lot in the middle of who-knows-where with over $1,500 combined. Crazy. This was a Thursday night. We also weaseled our ways out of school on Friday too.
So, long story short, after the sun rose the next day I got my candy apple red Jackson. It was an experience I’ll never forget. The best part is that I’m fine with just keeping the memories and not the guitar.
With the cash from my studio/guitar purge I ended up buying 4 new guitars and a few choice pieces of studio gear. Oh yeah, and about 20 guitar pedals. I ended up with MORE than I sold but I’m using everything that I have now so it was worth it. I have since sold even more! Efficiency.
My Increase
The idea behind this song is really simple yet hard to attain. The more I trust and put my hope in God the less I need and yet the more I am blessed. It’s almost like a catch-22 when I try to do it on my own. I work hard to get stuff to make my life easier. But it ends up taking more of my time to maintain and own it. The joy and satisfaction are short lived so I need more. When I choose to value “things” for what they are then I need so much less and I have more. My increase.
Something I strive for is for the “right” type of increase.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
-James 1:17
I am definitely a work in progress. Especially when Ibanez releases the new Steve Vai Passion and Warfare guitars at NAMM 2016!
Track on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/craigkelley/my-increase
Track Photo Credit: Michael Hull
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Each song will be posted to SoundCloud (unmastered and low-fi). When the album is finished it will be professionally mastered for iTunes. A limited number of copies of the CD will be available for sale. The release date is set for March.