Good Morning Digital Neighbors! Hey there all you free thinkers in the Phamily, among the Refugees and assembling as the Triggeratti! Happy Sunday Early Birds, Dawn Patrol, Conversants, Lurkers and all you Supporters, Members and Visitors to these great Local communities.

Went down a music rabbit hole last night and it continued this morning thanks to @eclecticRPT and @MinaH A few quotes and comments on music for a Sunday morning. Music is such a part of worship for many Christians, those who love and those who hate it. Some are in the Ancient Latin expression of liturgy, others enjoy the traditional vernacular hymns of the last few centuries and there are those who like various modern expressions of Christian music from the last few decades. There are identifiable camps and groups, even those who really don't care for much music at all. They don't mesh together very well, some Masses become known for certain expressions of music, I guess that is about as good as we can get for addressing those desires.

I think one of the challenges of keeping a healthy mindset is to balance your ingestion of political/cultural issues with other unrelated interest, it might be nature videos, history or anything that takes our attention away from the intrusive nature of the political/cultural battles in the current chapter of life. Music is one of my escapes and reprieves from the drumbeat of an increasing intrusive and dictatorial culture wars. Everyone should want to be informed, but not consumed.

It is easy to identify the Consumed, they are so deep in their mud of their tribe that can't see any good beyond their tribal aspirations and identification. The othering they engage in (and it can happen to any of us - othering makes critical thinking easier since that critical-questioning part is muted.) It can happen to anyone engaged in the cultural discussion when the discussion and its related issues are you only interest and passion. When the cultural wars become our only endeavor & interest I can't help but think we will suffer some form of emotional-mental contorting. I won't call it illness, but it is headed that way. Other forms of engagement help unknot the social-cultural twisting. I hope you have yours. I have faith, laughter and music up there in the top 10 list of things more worthy of time than overconsumption of the culture war issues.

It is good to be informed, it is burdensome at times and eye-opening when our predetermined assumption get knocked around by new information and must undergo refinement. It is dangerous to be among the Consumed, they are the latest mental virus among us that erodes individualism and personal liberty so that the greater WE may prosper. Once "those people" are gone/converted/compelled paradise is around the bend. There will always be a potential "those people", they are politically expedient after all. Perhaps even worse than the Consumed are the Distracted Oblivious who are legion and often unheard as they shelter in place in their avoidance of any cultural issues that will one day effect them. As long as there is bread & circus, they are fine. Only the denial of essentials, food, water, and Netflix/Smartphone may drive them from their dens in fearful rage. Alternatively they may just wait until the services are once again promised or provided. Hard tell, they are unengaged after all. Well off to the music quotes - I hope you have things that brighten your day and remind you of the goodness of being human. Three good quotes and one humorous one for your Sunday ingestion.

Without music, life would be a mistake. - Friedrich Nietzsche

There's nothing like music to relieve the soul and uplift it. - Mickey Hart

You can't stay the same. If you're a musician and a singer, you have to change, that's the way it works. - Van Morrison

Hell is full of musical amateurs. - George Bernard Shaw

Barn in Minot, North Dakota