I finally took the Winnie the Pooh quiz that Kae and Elisabeth have been talking about, Which Winnie the Pooh Character Are You? And I got… Winnie the Pooh.
My first reaction was- “Oh for GOD’S SAKE. This is even worse than when I took the Hogwarts quiz and was put into Hufflepuff! I mean, honestly… I know I’m starting to look a little like Winnie the Pooh… some of my shirts are fitting like his little red one… but, seriously???”
Then I thought about a Winnie the Pooh book we used to read when my kids were little. Winnie wants to go on a picnic, but everyone keeps saying it’s going to rain (the sky is looking dark and ominous.) Winnie finally says “Rain isn’t rain until it falls from the sky in drops. Until then, we might as well have fun.”
Okay, fine- I’ll be Winnie the Pooh.
This all came up during Elisabeth’s FIG Collective month (Finding Joy in Gratitude.) I loved this month of gratitude, but I think I’m not alone in having some questions. How do we reconcile “joy” in our lives when so many really bad things are happening?
I’m making my way through this book…
…. and I just read a chapter called “You Can’t Care About Everything (On Staying Sane When the World’s a Mess)”. Burkeman writes that after the 2016 election, he started to notice people were “living inside the news.” The news had become more real to them than their friends, family, and careers. The oversimplified message of this chapter is: don’t do this.
First of all… remember 2016? Remember how we thought things were really bad, but now it turns out those were actually the GOOD OLD DAYS???
I’m really struggling with this- I don’t want to “live inside the news.” But it’s so hard to find a balance- which issues do I choose to ignore, just throw up my hands and say “Well, I can’t care about everything!” Can I ignore all the news? I tried that, and it didn’t work. Can I just sort of care, but not too much? No, that doesn’t work either. Can I boycott Target and call it a day? Nope- that’s not quite enough.
I guess I just haven’t figured out how I want to live right now. I know I spout off every now and then on the blog, but in real life I keep my head down, assuming that everyone’s an enemy until proven otherwise (remember I live in a red state- and he actually lives in my county.) I need to figure out how much to say and do, how much news to consume, and balance it all with living my life- BECAUSE EVERY DAY STILL COUNTS.
What would Winnie the Pooh say? Probably something like… “oh, bother.”
If you’ve got this all figured out… let me know!!!
4 Responses
I am in stitches over here, literally, about your Winnie the Pooh comments!!! 😂😂😂 Laughing out LOUD!! I assure you you do not actually look like Pooh. I feel like I need to watch/read Winnie the Pooh now because I don’t actually know enough about the characters.
I really want to read that book too! I know SHU loved it but then I forgot about it and never picked it up! I love Oliver Burkeman.
Omg now I just re-read that and am laughing because I said “you don’t look like Pooh”, which out of context, one might think I said “don’t worry, you don’t look like poo”. 🤣 I think I need to go to bed… getting slap happy. 🤪
everyday still counts! I love that.
I’m total opposite now when treating others, I assume they have good intentions until proven otherwise. maybe more naive but I feel better this way when knowing most of people are good and kind.
Of course, I had to take that quiz too—and apparently, I’m Tigger! I was hoping for Piglet, but here we are. 🤣
You’re definitely not alone, Jenny. So many people are frustrated by what’s going on. When I run on the promenade here in Cape Town, I overhear snippets of conversation, and if I had a penny for every time someone mentioned the T-word, I’d be rolling in cash!
I don’t have a solution either—other than avoiding toxic social media and sticking with good friends (including us, of course!). 🥰
P.S. What’s the deal with Target? I’m out of the loop!