Do you ever get tired of people asking what kind of music that you like because there's no just choosing one kind?

No? Yes?

I have formulated an automatic and rather incomplete answer where my eyes glaze over, and I say "country and Christian. . . and stuff" because I'm never sure how to explain myself.

My music taste seems to range all over Dora's map. My Spotify playlists have country, Christian, indie, classical, bluegrass, rock, and rap. But if it all holds something in common, it would be that the words mean something to me, that they say something good and important, that they give me joy or make my heart dance.

I think this is true for most of us, this need for connection in music and not just a good beat, whether we understand or admit it. Most people today will say that music is very important to their lives, that it means something to them on a deep level.

Meaning in all areas of our lives is essential. Everything has a meaning, good or bad.

Music easily makes us cry or laugh, and my whole day can be changed by a song.

It's important to know that about yourself: how much music affects you, mentally and emotionally.

These tunes flowing into our ears, ringing through our cochlea, aren't without influence or consequence, whether we consciously register the words or not.

I know that some persons exist who do not really listen to the words of their music. This is a mystifying and almost enviable talent that I cannot comprehend. If there is a song playing, then I am attempting to decipher its reason and the mind of its maker. Everything heard, everything transferred, has a high impact on me.

But it's not just me.

Everything we swallow goes down and is digested, so with what we hear.

I get rather weary of the obtuse foolery of this trite little saying spouted in, yes, a song:

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Yeah, right. The wisdom levels took a steep plunge after the conjunction.

In reality, words are of the utmost importance. They are magnificence and power, beauty and horror, pain and glory, kindness and cruelty. They shape our lives, these units of communication and meaning,

these legos of relationships.

Language can batter and bruise, edify and encourage. Ideas change our lives, these ideas in word and these words in songs.

It wasn't said for our entertainment but as a lifeline: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."

Music is extremely powerful. Artists pour their broken souls into it, and we need to be wary of the effect.

But it's wise to know thyself and to "know thy music." Be mindful of that with which you are building your mind.

Music is an incredible gift. May it always be a bringer of life and not death in your soul.

A feast and not a famine.

We've seen it come true but often forget: What is put in will come out.

There's some truth to it: You are what you listen to.