Strumming a sweeter chord in a noisy world

“You’re making it hard. Everything’s easier if you just relax and love what you’re doing,” my friend and musical mentor once said. “That’s easy for you to say,” I replied at the time with a laugh, my fingers knotted as I worked to learn a couple of new guitar chords for a sad old country song. Let me clear the air right now: I am not a musician, far from it. I know a few chords and first felt like I was progressing when I grabbed the guitar and the dog didn’t leave the room like someone was running a can opener in the kitchen. That said, music, whether I’m listening to it or attempting to create it, is my passionate escape. Lately, it’s rescued me from the nightly news — a welcome break from the bitterness and tension broadcasting from around the world, and relief from another excruciating election cycle. Where, again, billions of dollars have been spent on exhausting rhetoric that fuels disagreements and strains longtime friendships.

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