I remember a scene from the movie “Rockstar” where the leading character played by Mark Wahlberg walks in a barren land amidst the gusty wind, tumbleweeds and sand flew in the air while he walks slowly away from the scene with a backpack and a guitar in hand. That particular scene clearly is the summation of the movie’s general idea—after a long and tiring days of his “rock ‘n’ roll fame, he finally realizes his mistakes and suddenly drops the bucket and headed towards nowhere with just a backpack and a guitar in hand.

Six years ago that same scene clearly defines my life—I’m not going to talk about my tumultuous twelve years relationship that end in nowhere, but I realized that as I stepped out of our so-called “Home” as I put an end to a enslaving relationship, the first thing that I grabbed was my old guitar and some piece of clothing inside my backpack. I plainly withdrew from my life leaving all that I have built for more than a decade, and with heavy feet I tread past a chaotic relationship armed with a guitar.

I’m not a virtuoso performer, I do not even have a band that plays gig after gig but my relationship with my guitar had gone to a personal level. I remember the times when I was down and out where playing some notes on my guitar would somehow eases pain—it’s my source of morphine. Probably the reason why it is the first thing I grab as I stepped out of that door. Just last year I answered to an ad that needs a guitar instructor, my student William--that turns into a friend is such a beginner that teaching him is a litmus test in my patient’s acidity. The tutoring session is long over, I don’t know if he learned from me but the friendship is still there though hardly keeping in touch.

The present advancement of technology on gaming gave birth to The Guitar Hero, wherein you play guitar on virtual world—nice concept but nothing close to playing the real guitar itself. Guitar playing whether professionally or personally gives off expressing oneself, a great way of shedding out resentments, hurts, angst and what-have-you-inside. It’s therapeutically recommended for those who want to bend out their torment in life non-violently.

As of now my old guitar is busy teaching three more protégée—my daughters. They take turns learning to strum and build chords with a little help from me, nice to see my old buddy extended his help out to my daughters. I hope to see one day that we enjoy jamming session in the living room wailing out some old rock tunes as my old guitar plays yet another role in my family—bonding us together.