the simple things

I caught the last part of an NPR interview about John Denver.  "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy.  Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry. Sunshine on the water looks so lovely.  Sunshine almost always makes me high."  The simplicity of that verse!  Some might say that it's too simplistic, but most agree that the simple verse and the single guitar accompaniment that is the only thing heard through the verse combine to make the song haunting and beautiful.

Daisy in Purple
Roseann Munger

We try so hard to be beautiful, don't we?  We try so hard to be perfect.  We seem to strive unceasingly for complication, for the most brilliant, for the best--and yet the simple things can be the loveliest.  Have you ever watched a young child at play?  Roseann Munger, an artist friend, drew a beautiful piece of a young red-haired girl at play.  Nothing fancy, nothing formal--just the simple joy of childhood.  She has drawn many other works that I admire, but "Daisy in Purple" is one of my favorites.  It's so simple--the beauty of childhood.  A little girl playing with ribbons in  ballet dress--but the motion, the beauty, the sheer innocence--I could look at it all day.  It makes me happy in a way that other art doesn't.


You may feel that you have nothing important to give.  Your art, your music, your poetry, your writing might seem so simple to you that you're embarrassed to show it to others.  Show it anyway.  Write anyway. Draw anyway. Share it with us--the word needs simplicity--simplicity is truth.