Doing Nothing

I knew of and loved the Winnie the Pooh Disney movie when I was little but it wasn't until I had kids of my own that I read the original stories. They're really wonderful and fun and I'm glad I've read them. Even if you don't have kids you should read them to see what it's all about.

One of my favorites is when Kanga and Roo first arrive and Rabbit doesn't like them since they're new and different so he makes up a plan to kidnap baby Roo to make him and Kanga want to leave. They do this by having Piglet jump in Kanga's pocket pretending to be Roo and when Kanga finds out she gives Piglet a bath (in the original stories Piglet is just like a real little piggie, always dirty and he likes to be that way) and she also gives him some medicine and Piglet is all flustered that she wont believe he's Piglet instead of Roo and once he manages to get away he rolls in the dirt to return to his comfortable dirty color. ;)

I've also read the Tao of Pooh -

Which wouldn't have made a lot of sense if I had only watched the movie, even with the latest movies that have come out, you really have to read the original to understand. This book was actually quite the mind opener - very interesting philosophy that I had heard small references to but put into terms of the characters from Winnie the Pooh suddenly made a lot more sense. As the great philosopher Wikipedia states, "The book is intended as an introduction to the Eastern belief system of Taoism for Westerners. It allegorically employs the fictional characters of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh stories to explain the basic principles of philosophical Taoism."  Now this doesn't work as a children's book to read to the kids at night - I mean you could if you wanted but I think the kids would give you that look of "really? and what do you think you're doing?" To be honest I believe a good portion of this book went over my head but still it was fun. If you want to look into it a bit, I would advice listening to it as you can do here since that might help with understanding.

Another fun offshoot version is Winnie the Pooh in Scots.

My sister-in-law gave this to my husband for Christmas or his birthday a few years ago and it's quite entertaining. For me it was a bit difficult and confusing to read, but when my husband reads it out-loud it's wonderful. Of course I am a bit biased as I love to hear accents and if my husband reads anything in Old English or Scots it makes me a bit twitterpated LOL.

So why all the stuff on the cuddly old bear? Especially since I don't have a picture to post of our antique Winnie the Pooh toy collection or or other fun plush toys like our Eeyore with dreadlocks (maybe next time) ;) No, I was doing all this because a friend of mine posted on facebook how she hang out with her nieces and nephews all day and did nothing and it was wonderful which reminded me of my favorite quote in all the Winnie the Pooh stuff - which I had to make my own little meme of since there doesn't seem to be one made already:

 I like this idea - of course when my husband comes home from a long hard day of work, if I've done nothing I feel really bad - but that's where I have to remember the Tao of Pooh and the real meaning behind this quote. In all honesty last night my whole family "did nothing," as we sat on our porch before bed and watched the clouds blowing and swirling above us. And it was marvelous! I think the truth is "doing nothing" isn't not cleaning the house or not working on that project you have to get done, but it's the state of mind - the moment where you enjoy just being with someone even if you're not accomplishing some great and marvelous thing that will change the world and make you famous or doing something that the world sees as worth. When you do something that is child like, silly, crazy, or what some people would outright call lazy, and you just let your soul soak it up and enjoy it - that's when you're doing nothing. And I like that.