So this is a story . . .

Disclaimer: I did not create the title in order to get more hits. John Mayer really did save my life.

It was early 2011. My beloved aunt had just passed from breast cancer a few months before (the day after my 27th birthday, no less). I wasn't getting a lot of work at my current job, tried to apply for other jobs but going nowhere, was damn near broke, and had fallen into depression and contemplating suicide.

Then one day I was perusing through Pandora and I heard John Mayer do a live cover of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'". I found out it was part of a concert entitled "Where The Light Is", and I found videos on Youtube. I knew John was a big pop star and had a history of dating beautiful actresses, but not much else about him. But when I watched this concert form beginning to end, I was mesmerized by his incredible guitar and songwriting skill. 

Around the same time I got a call from work about a long-term assignment. I'm not a religious or New Agey kind of person, but it was like lightning had struck. I had rediscovered a purpose in life. 

Side note: One of the last days with my aunt, we were just kind of hanging around the apartment, just the two of us. Then out of nowhere she asks,"Do you still play guitar?" 

It was like a battering ram out of nowhere. I had started playing guitar a few years back but then lost interest, and up until then it seemed like no one even noticed.

So thanks to John Mayer and my aunt, I started on this quest to learn all I could about how to play this wonderful instrument. I went to Guitar Center the next day and bought a $120 Squier Bullet sunburst Strat and a $20 Danelectro mini-amp. I signed up for a website to learn guitar and even got to bring my guitar to work, where to the irritation of my co-workers I dragged my way through basic chords.

I wish I could say I went on to become really good at the guitar and launched my music career, but sadly it hasn't turned out that way. After my assignment was over I actually put the guitar down for a bit. I tried to sell it and make a few bucks out of it, but Guitar Center was being stingy, and on the way home I lost the guitar.

But I bought a Squier mini strat for $100, got a Line 6 Pocket Pod express for about $40 and have since gotten back into the thick of things. I'm still basically a late beginner/early intermediate level player, but the biggest change for me is while before it was all about getting crazy skills as quickly as possible, now it's just fun. I was just at Guitar Center the other day for a job interview, and I ended up staying a couple of hours afterward just trying out different guitars (a Tele, a Les Paul, a semi-hollow and hollow body). Even though I had the audacity to play a basic D chord on the hollow body, I didn't give two shits. I'm just enjoying it now.

I still wish I was better, and I know it's going to be a grind to get to that master level, but it's easier in the sense that when I play now there's no pressure to be this epic player. I'm just having fun, and I know the more I play the skill will come.

Fast forward 4 years: I love JM's music so much now (shout out to my "John Mayer" and "John Mayer Knows Best" Facebook pages), and I've gotten into so many other great artists both older (B.B. King) and younger (Ed Sheeran) thanks to JM's influence. I'm still doing the same crappy job (although hopefully Guitar Center hires me), but I'm getting a lot more work now, and saving up for more gear. I've been able to get a $70 Sawtooth Strat with a maple neck and sunburst (it works great for a cheap guitar), a Vox AC1 Rhythm Vox (complete with built-in drum beats), and I splurged on a Zoom G5 (fortunately I got a Sweetwater gift card, so I've been able to pay it off in increments), and I'm looking at getting either a Jackson JS22 metallic blue Dinky or some kind of Les Paul knockoff. Maybe even a hollow-body.

I'm good with my life now, and it wouldn't have happened if not for a tall, lanky, talented man from Fairfield, CT. Thank you, Mr. Mayer.