Easy or Simple?
Photograph by fredericknoronha
The scent of polluted air hits your nostrils as you power your window down, squinting at the small type on the menu board.
“I would like a [insert your favorite fast food here],” you say to the detached and anonymous voice that has asked you for your order.
And when you finally pull up to yet another window, exchange cash for a paper sack of cardboard, condiments, and what-nots, do you relish in the ease of consumption? Do you think to yourself, “Wow. I love fast food. This is great?” Maybe so. Maybe not. Maybe you chose to fill the void of an empty stomach with fast food, not because you enjoy it so much, but because it was easy. It beat standing in a kitchen contemplating vegetables and fiber and the process of making a most tasty (and hopefully more healthy) dinner.
Easy. How much of our lives are consumed with making choices based on ease? Ultimately it may not be the right choice, but it was the easy one. And maybe you are thinking as you read these words, “Well, Ellie, there is nothing wrong with making life easier.” But the truth is - is easy really better for us?
Many people try hypnosis because they are looking for an easy answer to a problem. They think they will just mindlessly and effortlessly make the changes that I suggest. But that is not the way it really is. There is a sort of mindfulness about the hypnotic process, which involves both conscious and unconscious work. You have to be consciously committed to making a change before you even consider hypnosis. And what hypnosis does is not make something necessarily easier, but it simplifies things. It narrows down options (rather than greasy fries, you now find yourself wanting the crunch of a carrot); it can clarify a path that is more beneficial; it allows release that can simplify emotional feelings.
This all comes to mind, not based on a hypnosis experience but a decision I am in the throws of untangling. There is the easy way, which might be as satisfying and healthy as eating fast-food or there is the other path - more complicated, but more promising. Rather than making things easier in the short term, I think it may be more about simplifying my life, concentrating and focusing on what is really important. Go for the goal and make the journey important. That is what I would tell a client.
December 11th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
fastfood e? where did you find this “fastfood”?
December 11th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
You will have to forgive me, but I do not understand what you are asking?
December 11th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I’m with you. Good things take time and long-term, deliberate efforts. I practice a Taiji form that, when one understands the advanced motions and postures, lets the body rhythmically turn around the eyes, leaving the eyes to do a hypnotic sway. It takes some time to be able to practice it in that way. I hint at its therapeutic effects by describing its relationship to EMDR.
Another great posting…and amazing photo.
December 12th, 2008 at 8:40 am
I am not familiar with anything Taiji, but that is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.