One year of Forum, an open letter

General Yo-Yo
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Sorry for the wall of text

I just received a notification with a little badge called “devotee” and “anniversary”, I went to see what it was and I discovered that is already my first year of forum and that I visited and read it every single day of the year (which honestly is insane lol).

All those stuff are quite personal but I dont care to write them also in case someone is in my situation or will be in my situation, you are not alone!

I sign up here exactly one year ago mentally and physically destroyed, I discovered last July that my career as classical guitarist was finished and that I can’t play anymore cause a disease, I passed a summer sit on the couch or walking around bored and sad cause my hand was insanely swollen after the medical exams and the carpal tunnel injection, the idea of not play guitar anymore it killed me inside and made me completely numb to everything that was happening in my life, my only though was about the fact that I cannot play anymore, I will not going to hide that I was mentally not in a good place at all and constantly thinking that my life was finished.

Once the hand wasn’t swollen anymore and my nerves felt better I started to use my right hand again and while I wasn’t able to play guitar as described by doctors I noticed that I was able to throw again (I never stop to throw in 10 years, I just did it for myself in my bedroom an hour every now and then to chill and relax after play guitar or just to release a bit of stress, always loved yoyoing), seeing the bag of yoyos in the corner of my living room make me had an idea, to occupy my time instead of complain of myself just start to throw more frequently, I passed from an hour every now and then to 4 hours daily if not more and also during the weekend an insane amount of time :rofl:

The same day I look online to see it there was a forum and I found YoyoExpert, subscribed without even had an idea about the adventure I was starting, useless say that now I feel much better and so many great things happened:

I made so many new friends around the world and in London and just this is amazing
I started with 5 yoyo in my bag, now I have 50 :rofl:
I started just for the sake of it and then I got sponsored, open an instagram and in January will be one year that I post a new combo every week and being part of the community, insane to think people asking for tutorials of my combos, this is crazy!
Being active in the community gave me a new sense of life, a goal, a hobby, a passion which is everything I need in my life
It took me out from the depression and helpless feeling I had, it helped me physically to go again back in shape (still working on it)
It made my internal pain more bearable knowing that every morning I can wake up with a goal and so many people around that want to have fun, I still miss guitar but yoyoing is literally helping me to survive that.

Every morning first thing I do is coffee and watch what happen in the forum, every day is great and full of discoveries, thanks everyone, this is the first of so many years! :heart:

Much love
Alberto

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Wall of text…… I’m proud of you…

:nerd_face:

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I can only imagine how bad it must be to lose your career in music. I was only ever a very amateur at banjo and guitar. I could have been good but never a pro. I actually went away from playing music for a long time. As I approached retirement, I started playing again. After starting to play banjo and guitar again, my hands went south. Carpal tunnel on the right and trigger finger on the middle left finger. The trigger finger happened in February 2018. I was deployed to a remote location and had a lot of time to play my guitar. Barre chords ate my finger…

Anyway, I still struggle and play bot only for myself.

I hope you can find a way back to some level of play. Losing music must be a horrible thing.

All the best,
Jeff

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Who are you again???:rofl::rofl: You got on a bit before me. I guess I’ll be hitting a year in a few months too. That’s an amazing story Albertino. Thank you for sharing. It’s stories like this that help others in the same way that you were helped. Happy anniversary!!!

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Just another member of the forum exactly like you :slight_smile:

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Learnt from the real pro :rofl::rofl::rofl:

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Jeff, thanks very much for your kind message.
My teacher used to have trigger finger, arthritis and lot of nerves issues on his back, he played a life time and it was insane to hear about his problems.

I choose a diploma in classical guitar ages ago because I felt it was something “safe” to play and do until I become very old something to keep until “the end” but instead is insane the amount of injuries I had and heard from people playing music (every instrument), I have been in the extreme sport world and is nowhere close the amount of injury compared than music, probably nerves are just very delicate, doesnt matter how relaxed you are when you play those things are about to happen eventually, I just remenber when I heard the story of Glenn Gould and the level of deterioration of his hands, I just felt the fear in me.

My issue is called secondary task focal dystonia, luckily it doesnt affect my normal life but it get triggered when I play guitar or piano.

Big hugs Jeff!

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Love hurts. But love can come from anywhere. I feel you. I don’t play much anymore because my hands got pretty bad. They’re pretty twisted for my age and, because of work and various injuries, I can’t really play how I used to without having to go into the brace for a few days. I lost my business when I found yo-yos and it really helped me. I’m glad we all found our ways here to collectively enjoy something. Here’s to the future.

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Bravo, thanks for sharing it will help many others, sometimes it takes a wall of text to get the complete message especially when it is a tragic situation turned into a positive one.
Thank you

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Happy Cake Day, Alberto! Thank you for sharing your story.

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I hope you know that I was only joking.

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Ur an inspiration brothaman! I wish u the best!

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Ahahhaha Steve do not worry, it is because the forum is huge and I do not know everyone and everyone do not know me so it was a genuine answer ahahah no problems at all!

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Thanks a lot :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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It requires a lot of effort to turn the situation and create something new again, have to say that I am having fun in all of this, the yoyo community is honestly awesome

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Right on man. Awesome story thanks for sharing. That shows me that a lot of us are more alike then we might think. I had a similar situation happen that brought me back to yo-yoing and the forum as well. I think I’m at like a year n half on the forum but only started being active like 9 months ago. Anyway you’re a beast at Yoyo my dude keep shredding

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Thanks for sharing this man. Made my morning better. Found some serenity thinking over it. There’s something therapeutic about it for me too. Helps ease my mind into a better state. I’m also recovering and have found it to be a healthy passion and hobby… as long as I don’t get too nuts about it or isolate. My wife and kids get to make fun of me, but I get to laugh with them about it too. Anyway, very cool to hear your experience @Albertino!

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Man this is so great. I think sharing these personal testimonies of passion for throwing is some of the best content on the forum. I love hearing this stuff. Throw forever!!!

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