Pooh Corner

"You'd be surprised there's so much to be done.

Count all the bees in the hive.

 Chase all the clouds from the sky."

 

House at Pooh Corner by Kenny Loggins

 

 

 

 

In the television program Ally McBeal the main character is given an assignment by her therapist to come up with her own theme song.  She chose the song "Tell Him" by the Exciters. 

 

That always seemed to me an interesting exercise.  A theme song describes you in a very basic way.  It tells the world who it is that you want the world to see.  It makes people want to get to know you.

 

So I thought about what I would pick as my own theme song.  Eventually I settled on "House at Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins. 

For one thing it is a really nice song, and one of the few songs in a key that I can sing without making the neighborhood dogs howl.  An important factor in choosing a theme song.

My choice was also inspired by one of my favorite books.  It was the book "The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff that first awakened my interested in Taoist philosophy.  The book explains some of the principal beliefs in Taoist thinking using the timeless characters in A. A. Milne's beloved stories.

There is 'wise' Owl, who is so fond of explaining things in a scholarly way, but somehow he manages to keep his feathers from getting dirty.  Eeyore the donkey, schlepping his way through life in a permanent funk, always looking for the gloomy side, and always finding it.

Rabbit is perhaps the character most typical of today's modern lifestyle.  Always on the go, always having someplace to be other than where he is.  Measuring life by how many things he does, yet never seeming too concerned with how well he does them. 

Then there is our little friend, Winnie the Pooh. 

Pooh bear, so misunderstood.  People mistake him for a simpleton.  Yet it is his simple approach to life that makes him the wisest of them all, without being wise about much at all. 

He exemplifies many of the ideals that the Taoist masters strive for.

First is right seeing.  To approach life with eyes open, seeing all the world for what is important, for what matters most. 

He sees that Rabbit is constantly running from here to there and back again, yet he sees that there is not one single step that isn't to help his friends.  While Owl drones on with his pontifications, Pooh sees that he only wishes to make the lives of his friends smoother through the wisdom of others.  And while Pooh sees Eeyore  moping through the Hundred Acre Wood he sees the eternal bright spot that Eeyore carries in his heart for his friends. 

Pooh sees that his friend Piglet may be small in stature, yet he also sees that Piglet is large in the love in his heart.

Next is right action.  By seeing the world in it's true nature, by letting the world be what it is, and allowing the world to work the way it must work, we live in harmony with the world.

Pooh may get his nose stuck in a honey jar from time to time, but he finds the most delicious part of the honey at the bottom. 

Pooh loves going on adventures with his friends, because he knows he is with his friends.  And if you can be with your friends the world will work itself out. 

Many people confuse the idea of right action as a "go with the flow" attitude.  If something is hard to do you shouldn't try. 

Perhaps if things seem impossible the real problem is that it's something you shouldn't be doing.  Not because it's hard, but because it's a mistake. 

Yet if you are seeing the world for it's true nature, and you are letting the world do what it must do, then things will work themselves out of their own accord.  It may be hard, but it won't seem impossible.  If the sidewalk is icy don't run, slide.

The third and most important ideal in Taoism is compassion.

When all is said and done, when you set aside the rituals and fancy robes, the prayers and the proverbs, isn't that what every religion is saying?  Isn't that the single bit of advice that will make the world a better place?

Pooh has compassion.  He has a heart that is more full of compassion then his tummy is full of honey.

This blog has turned into something very different than what I thought it would be when I started.  Thankfully it became what it needed to be.  And in that spirit I should let it come to an end of it's own accord, with a quote from the greatest Taoist master of all, Winnie the Pooh.


"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."