Group Therapy

Ourchestra: Shel Silverstein on group therapy (sort of)

April 09, 2010
plants and books

I'm pretty crazy about Shel Silverstein, and this poem in particular.

Ourchestra

So you haven't got a drum, just beat your belly.
So I haven't got a horn-I'll play my nose.
So we haven't any cymbals-
We'll just slap our hands together,
And though there may be orchestras
That sound a little better
With their fancy shiny instruments
That cost an awful lot-
Hey, we're making music twice as good
By playing what we've got!

— Shel Silverstein

I love the idea of "playing what we've got."

One of my group therapy patients is fond of saying that in group therapy we compost: We take whatever it is that's around us, the imperfections and the mess and the muck, and we use it to grow new, beautiful things.