Are We Different?

This may sound crazy, but when I hear certain chord progressions, they move me. Unfortunately, I have become caught up in the equipment game, always seeking a way to make those chords sound even better. Lately, aside from room tuning, which is just another "piece" of equipment, I'm trying hard to just listen. 

We are different and yet in some respects we are the same.  Music for instance affects the brain.  Music has an effect on animals as well.

As long as I can remember, I have been drawn to music and art. 

There were no professional musicians in our immediate family but there were musicians in the family:  Cousin Eldee Young payed with the Ramsey Lewis Trio;  Singer, Domita Jo Deblanc was a distant cousin.
My second cousin, a trumpeter taught music at DuSable H.S. in Chicago.

There were other musically talented family members.

As a child growing up, I would sit for hours in front of my brother Charles' Grundig console, listening to '78's, 45's and the radio.  At the elementary school I attended, we had a study period that was held in the school library.  The librarian would play classical music during that study period.
I still remember how I felt during study period, listening to whatever she was playing.  I also sang in a Boy's Choir and played drums in our drum & bugle corp band.  The elementary school I attended in Chicago would have field trips to the Chicago Symphony and Ballet.  I really, really enjoyed those field trips.  In addition to singing in a choir and playing the drums, I taught myself how to play flute, classical guitar and french horn.

But I never learned to read music until I was well into my 30's.    

Whatever instrument I happened to play as a child or young adult, I played by ear, even into adulthood when I initially began taking cello and piano lessons.  I remember once during a piano lesson I was supposed to have practiced a composition by Mozart for my upcoming lesson. 
After I stopped playing the piece, my piano teacher remarked: 
"That was very beautiful but you played it in the wrong key."

My musical tastes gravitate around Jazz, R&B, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and 20th Century classical composers and compositions.

Yeah, I like Rock too!  I'm a child of the Sixties.

I guess you could say, when I listen to music, I listen as a musician, even though I'm not a professional musician.  I listen to phrasing, articulation, rhythm and tempo.  I listen for musicianship. I listen with my heart.
I know what the cello and piano should sound like but I know what other instruments should sound like as well.

All I know is that when I listen to music, or when I was playing an instrument, music has a profound affect on me.

I realize that this thread is probably done.  I came across this article on CNN today about Jazz and the brain.  Quite interesting:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/29/health/brain-on-jazz-improvisation-improv/index.html