In the book I am going through slowly called “Speeches that changed the world.” I have reached one by King Charles the 1st.  He gave it in 1649 while awaiting execution and just before he lost his head.  It seems Oliver Cromwell was his great adversary.
It is not the politics of the time that is highlighted to me (though I find it really interesting) but how what I am reading ties in with what I am hearing.
What I am hearing right now is the importance of a team.  There are those that are famous and often the spokespeople for a movement, but they represent a tip of the iceberg.  An important tip, and a “the buck stops here” tip, but nevertheless only a small tip of what is there.
Charles the 1st no doubt had his own designs and agenda, but like any movement it was only as strong as the people it represented.
I am so glad for teams.  Lone Rangers some and go and some have a good influence and some a bad.  But everyone is made more alone by pushing away others.
People are happy to align with what they believe in.  Any cause needs those willing to use their skills to further it.  The term “the army marches on its stomach” was not coined for no reason.  They may do the fighting and take ground yet that is only possible because of the multitude of others supporting and furthering the cause.
The book has some good things to say about Charles the 1st in that he was a great patron of the Arts, a loyal husband and father, and sincere.  But it is three words I read about his short comings that in my opinion led to his downfall.  Those words wore a “poor strategist” and “inflexible.”
To me that is one of the reasons why it is so important who’s star I hitch my wagon to.  All are part of a team (knowingly or unknowingly).  To the victor belong the spoils and losing can have dire consequences.

This choosing a word for the dictionary via random means is fraught.  Today’s word was saraband.  Maybe you have never heard of it.  I had not.  The dictionary says it is a stately old Spanish dance.
According to Wikipedia the Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences.  It started lively and ended up being stately.  It goes onto say the form of music was used in the compositions of Bach, Handel, Debussy, Greige, Benjamin Britten and a number of other composers I have never heard of.
A Jesuit priest in 1609 described it as incredibly undesirable.  I do have a problem with that as both Bach and Handel do not seem to have seen it as a problem.
Each to their own I guess.  To me most musical forms are neutral. Maybe like AI or the internet or the like.  They can be used for both good or bad.  In itself it is neither, but in its use it is one of them.
I am not into it myself but I really do like dance.  Correction.  I do do an incredibly good “Sprinkler.”  But most of my dancing is on the inside of me, or out of sight.  I did get a rude shock recently though as I would retreat to my “alone” place to dance only to discover I was not alone.  The neighbour chose to introduce herself from over the fence there.
I actually do not think she will do it often though as she is 80 something and short, and our introduction was her putting her head up so she could just see and talk.  In no way do I see her as such, but the way she talked to me reminds me of a dog that puts its head up to a narrow opening.
The definition of the word included the word “stately” so I reckon that would exclude me.  Ok I have been told I come up alright with a scrub but it really is something that is very rarely me.  I am way more at home in an old shirt, pants and sandshoes and in the garden.
Others are into it.  I enjoy watching it.  Participating in it is different.  As a one off maybe.

So much to learn.  So much I have never heard of.
Like “Plausibility Structures.”  For me it was like a double take and “say what’ moment.  Wikipedia says of Plausibility Structures, “the sociocultural contexts for systems of meaning within which these meanings make sense, or are made plausible.”
I learned there are three main influences of Plausibility structures.  Community, experience, and facts figures and data.  What really surprised me was what has been found to exert the greatest influence.  I would have said it was facts and data.  But no, it was community.
I am big on all three.  I am in a community of like minded people, I have had experiences that give me confidence I am on the right track and facts and figures support what I think.
Yet thinking about it, community is a great influence - even when it is not to do with “meaning of life” stuff.   For example I enjoy stamps.  If I surround myself with 10 people that are into it to, I am likely to explore the subject and share my discoveries with others.  If on the other hand I am surrounded by 10 people who never give stamps a second thought, I am more likely to neglect my collection.
I actually like the concept.  It is important to me that the facts and figures add up.  I have no desire to be involved in something that is built on a fairy tale and is believed for no other reason than others believe it.  My experience also has to correlate with my belief system.  I am very much not a “just because” person.  I will run a mile from something where the fact and data do not add up and my experience is contrary to what is held to.
Yet if those are satisfied, I am a big believer in the power of community.  So much can be achieved when a community work together.  I am seeing big time the power of the opposite at the moment.  Communities tearing themselves apart.  Yet I have seen and am seeing what can be achieved when communities work together.  That to me is constructive.  Not working together is destructive.