Making music arrive in my living room used to be harder. Hard is too strong a term, really, We are only talking about finding the cd of choice and pushing a couple of buttons. The speakers had to be turned on, and the volume up, but the reward was glorious sound. Yet even that minimal effort has been simplified. I can click an app on my phone and the piano or guitar pieces come dancing out to greet me. Gabriel's Oboe. Brandenburg Concerto. Solomon Keal. My own John's original compositions. I have no idea how it works financially. I would like to think that the artists are somehow compensated, but there is no depletion in my bank account. Also some of them are dead. 

Still being instantly available does not mean that I always remember to access it. There are times when I realize that a grouchy mood could have been mollified with the addition of a symphony, But cantankerousness is not always compatible with healthy strategies. 

Just now, reason did not fail me. As a stressful conversation ended, the genius idea occurred to me to bring on the melodies. In a matter of seconds, I was surrounded by the calming melodies that have become like balm. My breathing slowed, and my shoulders released. 

It dawned on me that there are ways to bring such agents of benevolence into conversations. When someone is getting under my skin, there are musical phrases I can let slide into the air between us. 

"It sounds like you had a rough day," can soothe the percolating angst. 

"I am sorry it made you angry," can keep me from absorbing the negativity. 

Kind responses are as seamlessly available as Spotify. Plus it doesn't cost a thing.