Simplicity came up in a therapy group, yesterday.
After that group, I simply saw simplicity everywhere.
Those last two simple photos are of a simple yet sturdy walking stick at an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy session. I used that stick to simply beat the stuffing out of some pillows, expressing some old and simple feelings of anger.
How did I feel after that exercise? Simply wonderful. As I told George, my EMDR therapist:
Instead of having a painful tiger inside me, now I am the tiger.
I’ve simply been considering, for over two years, sharing the non-simple song “Simple” from Stephen Sondheim’s 1964 musical Anyone Can Whistle (which features a psychotherapist sorting people into groups).
I prefer the simplicity of a local stage production, sometimes. (“Simple” simply starts at the 4-minute mark in that YouTube video.) If you want the simplicity of “Simple” from the original cast album, here it is, in two simple parts:
If you simply do not have time to watch those videos, I simply understand.
Some more simplicity: there’s no time like the present to do something helpful you’ve been considering for years.
Like simply beating the crap out of some pillows and accepting your own anger.
What do you think of the simplicity of this post?
Sincerely simple thanks to therapy groups, my EMDR therapist, sticks, pillows, Stephen Sondheim, and you — of course!
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 
Simply listen and accept ourselves … and wear purple. This is the the simple answer to everything! A more than simple post that stimulates more than simple thinking Ann 😊
I simply love your accepting and thoughtful comment, Val.
Simply put, I love the simplicity of this post.
Have a simply beautiful day!!!!!!
Thanks for making my day simply more beautiful, SD!
Simplify, simplify, simplify, as Thoreau said. Most people don’t realize that originally the line was “Simplify, simplify, simplify, simplify.” Being the simple-minded guy I am I go right for the most popular literary quote regarding simplicity.
Perhaps that’s because I can’t whistle.
I’m whistling at how great, great, great, great this comment is, Chris.
A simply lovely way to illustrate the word ‘simple’, Ann. I simply hope you felt much better for beating that simple pillow to bits. Simple ways of venting frustration or anger are often the best. I suppose lots of things in life are simple if we take the time to understand them. 🙂
I am simply thrilled that you understand so beautifully, Millie.
Simplicity is underappreciated, sometimes more so at home than at work.
You are simply not underappreciated here!
I hope the swinging of the stick simplifies your angst for a long while, Ann.
Your swinging comments get rid of any angst I might have, Mark. Sly thanks for the simple song.
Simply put, there’s some good fierce thinking going on here. Thanks, Maria!
Ann, I love that EMDR is transforming the tiger within you so that you become the tiger. I saw the light bar and reflected on how I use headphones and tones producing alternating bilateral hemispheric stimulation. Perhaps I will invest in the lights. We were trained to wave our fingers in front of the client’s eyes, but watching the “fliegels” wobble broke me of that!
I simply love that you know so much about EMDR, Sunny!
I simply can’t understand where the comment I left earlier, disappeared to! Clearly, I have not mastered the art of typing on my new iPad.
I can’t recollect now what I wrote then, but I know that I was simply delighted to see another photo of your therapy whiteboard, and I tried to figure out how anything about those crowded columns could be simple. Thich nhat hanh? Hmm. But — I did click the “like” button earlier. That stuck, so I know that I was here. “Like” button clicks are like Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs, showing where I’ve been on the internet today.
And now, I’ve finished all my homework and I’m simply going to do nothing more but bake a couple of dozen cookies for tomorrow’s class. Goodnight!
I simply love the crumbs you like to leave here, Maureen. Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist. Somebody in the group was talking about his simply beautiful writing.
I simply love the way the walking stick frames the trees
I simply love that you noticed that, Derrick.