Don't over-think it!

Hamlet said, "...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." I agree with this because I've seen again and again in my life how I can turn a good experience into a bad experience simply by thinking about it too hard. My poet-crush, David Whyte, reminds us in his poem, Start Close In, that we shouldn't "smother something simple." This is indeed one of my bad habits.

 I am a big-time over-thinker. I over-think situations so deeply that often times I cross the line into brooding. And brooding is all well and good for characters like Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice and just about every hero in every romance novel, but it's not good for me. I've been trying to cut back on my brooding and the best solution I've found so far is distraction in the form of humor and peppy music. In much the same way that in order to lose weight in our bodies, we need to eat lighter foods, I've been trying to feed my brain lighter, happier material to reduce heavy thinking. I pretty much thought there was no way to over-think pop music until I saw this bit of brilliance from my comedy-crush, Stephen Colbert. Words cannot describe how much I love this!

The song that Stephen is making fun of by One Direction is actually a song I really like. No apologies, nation! I love it for exactly the reason that the lyrics are NOT incredibly complex. It is just an upbeat song that distracts me while I run on the treadmill. I've decided it's time to stop being apologetic that my taste in music and movies is highly superficial. I like movies that make me laugh and music that makes me want to get up and dance. For this time in my life, I am consciously exposing myself to art that doesn't stir up deep emotions within me, but just gives me a rush of joy.

One poem that gives me a rush of simple joy is this famous one by William Carlos Williams:

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

In searching for this poem, I stumbled upon this link with different interpretations of the poem. Ordinarily, I would eat this kind of stuff like candy. I adore picking apart poems (hence this blog), searching for the deeper meanings hidden in each line, the symbolism, what the poet was REALLY SAYING. But today on my low-brooding diet, I could only skim some of the interpretations and then leave the page. I'm sure there are some very good opinions about what William Carlos Williams was really saying in this poem. And with all respect to those opinions, I choose to ignore them today and stick with my own belief that this is a simple poem with a simple message. I believe this poem is actually just saying that so much depends on utter simplicity, the beautiful colors of a red wheelbarrow next to white chickens. Let's not smother something simple. Or rather, go ahead if you want to. Analyze it to pieces. While you do that, I'll be outside running and listening to this song: