Life Lessons from a Bear

Out of all of the books on the BBC list, I was most surprised to realize that I had never gotten around to reading A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh. Its not like it looked like a hard book to get through, its about a stuffed bear for heaven's sake! I had copies of it at my disposal. My mom owns a fairly old copy of it and so does Amy. It really was one of those books that I just never got around to reading. So, while trudging through Brahm Stoker's Dracula, I decided that it would be a perfect time to pick up Winnie the Pooh and take a break from all of the blood sucking and undead fun of Dracula. I know, its quite a leap, but what better to take your mind off of a blood sucking, giant bat than a stuffed bear with an obsession with honey, right?

The story is fairly simple. Winnie the Pooh and his friends live in the 100 Acre Wood and have all kinds of adventures with Christopher Robin. This was one of those books that I could have finished in a couple hours. The stories are so sweet and the characters everything they were on the screen, while I watched Pooh's Corner as a kid. Rabbit was still as OCD in the book, constantly worried about his garden and never being able to figure out why no one cared as much as he. Eeyore, as endearing as he mopes around, not knowing why nothing ever goes right. Owl had his delusions of grandeur, Piglet (my personal favorite) as timid and creative as ever, and Christopher Robin in the middle of the group acting as the voice of reason and source of imagination all at the same time. 

I think the thing that makes Winnie the Pooh so timeless is the fact that despite the fact that Pooh is simply a "silly old bear", there are some serious life lessons to be learned from the book. Winnie the Pooh seemed to look at the world in a way that makes everything so incredible simple, it made me want to spend time in the 100 Acre Wood. Its all in a simple, 160 some-odd page book, but here is what I learned from that cubby all stuffed with fluff. 

• If you eat so much you can't fit through your friend's door anymore, its time to take a break from the sweets. At least until you fit through the door again. 
• Most problems can be solved with a little bit of your favorite thing, whether its honey, gardening, or storytelling. 
• If you're scared of something, its best to try and trap it before you face it because if its contained its substantially less scary. 
• A little imagination can go a long way. 
• If you want to blend into a crowd, sometimes wearing stripes and carrying a blue balloon just isn't enough. 
• And, the biggest life lesson I've learned from Pooh is sometimes, the most important thing you can do is whatever you can to make your friends smile, because that is what can make a day perfect.

So, there you go. I finished the book knowing why Winnie the Pooh is still so dang popular. There isn't anyone that can't identify with some aspect of at least one of the characters. As an actor, I may seem like I would identify with Owl, but put me in a group of people that I don't know and, much like Piglet, I start realizing just how little I am and start becoming the timid wallflower that doesn't necessarily want to draw too much attention. But, I think all of us could benefit from acting a little bit more like Winnie the Pooh once in a while. 

I suppose now its back to the world of vampires and vampire slayers. I don't have much further to go and I may have to take a break from the classics once I'm done. The bad thing is, I was at Barnes and Noble today and I saw a bookmark that has a list of 50 books to read before you die and I'm wondering what's on that list, too. Amy is already shaking her head at me. :-) Yay for my adventures in reading!