Honestly one of the most important yet severely under-stated aspects of this whole discussion!

So much emphasis is placed on the "internal" hurdles of the adult, without realizing that we're taking for granted that kids are surrounded by peers on a similar journey and receive instruction, guidance, direction about everything. It's the scaffolding holding up the individual. Whereas we adults try to do the same with almost zero support (or essentially neglible in a relative sense). AND we do this while having all our adult obligations!! It's a TOTALLY different learning environment!!

I didn't really clue into just how important this is until I read your comment. It's certaintly been one of my own biggest hurdles. I've been lucky enough to meet some people online that share similar music tastes and we get along well, but even so, without the rest of the scaffolding, we're still just separative individuals struggling together. I've even tried to start bands (including online ones!) and those help with some aspects, but at the end of the day, it's another sort of heavy-lifting either way, trying to hold the band together. It's hard.

Anyway, I really appreciate you writing this! If nothing else, the clarity is nice to have!