Today we look at the lighter side of writing, music, and peanut butter.  We flip it around and remember good people, great teachers, and lessons most of us know and live by.  All of this is necessary to keep the planet spinning while we strive to make it better.  Reflect today on others and let go of the baggage we all hold on to.  If only for the day, take the opportunity to Unburden and Forgive.

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Ryan Holiday, who writes the Daily Stoic, has an exciting take on Easter.  His piece today is called We Can Always Be Born Again, and he talks about how common it was for stoic philosophers, prophets, and other spiritual teachers to go through brutal and torturous deaths.  Many of us in the West have heard the stories, and many have been sanitized, which can reduce the true brutality, all resulting in the same thing, death to those who thought for themselves. 

Holiday highlights a few things about the story of Jesus, who he refers to as Christus written in Tacitus, a Roman stoic and historian.  Tacitus writes about the crucifixion not from a religious perspective but a historical one and comments on how Christus was forced to carry to the site of his death the “tools of his execution.”  He ends the summary of the crucifixion with the ultimate Stoic Philosophy of separation from the event and the forgiveness of the mob responsible for what would make them feel less miserable about themselves.

Stoics and several religious figures live above our plane of existence.  It's a calmer plane with less need for ego and comparison.  It's also an excellent feeling to study them and work to reflect on the lessons and messages that have survived centuries of storytelling.  Or, as Holiday says:

Once again, a recently discovered feature hits the top of our manually curated algorithm, and The Atlantic takes another writer out of what may be their regular beat and puts them through the "who are you" expose.  This week it's Derek Thompson, and he takes us back to the 90s and plays all the hits.  Thompson starts with Coldplay and plays off both the fact that they have always been too widespread and to like them must not be remarkable because they've always been so popular.  Coldplay to us has always been good, and talent for good music wins; true punks don't care if it's popular to like or dislike anything. 

As a side note to Coldplay, watch this amazing clip from a recent tour where they close with A Sky Full Of Stars.  Filmed in Buenos Aires, and if it doesn’t fill you with hope and give you goosebumps, you are dead inside 😎

Thompson goes through several other recommendations and makes a statement we found interesting when talking about his love of Sabbath’s Theater by Philip Roth.

This might also relate to a sweet and inspiring take on watching movies alone and what the movie Arrival did to Thompson and his spouse.  The article is a fun day read.

On a day traditionally celebrated for colorful eggs, we highlight our favorite Easter Basket treat or at least a part of the treat.  Peanut butter!

Websites about foods and beverages have populated our feeds over the last few months.  A few have sparked interesting ideas and writings from us.  Today the spruce Eats we've featured before does a quick story on peanut butter, and most of the selections they recommend are the same creamy spreads we keep in our cupboards and refrigerators.  The ultimate combination of sweet and salty, and with a fair amount of protein which we use to justify the fact we can eat the good stuff with a spoon straight from the jar. 

Of the top pics, our favorites include:

Of the prominent national brands, Eats selected Skippy, and we think all the national brands are the same, and all are fantastic, but are more sugary dessert than nutty protein.  For Easter, stick with the Skippy or the Reese’s for your peanut butter eggs!

Spirit Goth Records.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

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Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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