Spotlight in Genius: Winnie the Pooh

Spotlight in Genius: Winnie the Pooh
by Joshua Christianson

How Winnie the Pooh teaches us to value what is most important

Winnie the Pooh, more than anything else, had the greatest impact on my early childhood. I recall bedspreads, plates, clothes, toys, and bottles all displaying the image of that yellow bear, and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood. I believe our family owned every Winnie the Pooh movie that came out, saw even the most obscure shows, and we definitely went to see The Tigger Movie in theaters at least three times. I’m even told that my first word was “stuck,” for the way the silly old bear got stuck at Rabbit’s house… 

To this day I’m a fan. When I finally went to see the Christopher Robin movie, praying that it wouldn’t ruin my childhood, I was happy to find the old magic still there: the friendship, silliness, and wisdom that makes the Hundred Acre Wood so wonderful. While I might be biased, I believe there is a greatness to A.A. Milne’s classic stories. A genius, which makes them timeless, powerful, and useful to our lives.

Value the Things That Really Matter

Winnie the Pooh teaches us to value the important things in our lives, beginning with life itself. For many people, myself included, life can sometimes feel monotonous. Work, chores, homework- with so much time spent striving for the future it is easy to lose sight of the now. What Pooh shows us is the wonder of childhood. For him, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit and the rest of the gang, life is a series of adventures, each day new and bright with possibility. Their great forest is large and filled with places to explore and friends to meet. They live in an endless, childlike moment, and while they may get lost or worry about Heffalumps, they still appreciate each day for the miracle it is. Are our lives so different? The whole wide world is our Hundred Acre Wood, there are friends and things to appreciate in every place we can find, and many of our worries are as real as Heffalumps. There may be responsibilities we must focus on for a time, but in the end, our world really is beautiful and full of light. For Pooh “Today” is always his favorite day, and maybe it should be ours too.

Pooh teaches us also to value and love others. His relationships with Piglet and Christopher Robin cut to the heart of what real friendship is. “I wonder what Piglet is doing. I wish I were there to be doing it, too,” thinks Pooh in one story. In another Piglet asks Pooh, “We’ll be friends forever, won’t we Pooh?” He answers simply, “Even longer.” We don’t hear things like that often in real life. But we feel them. We think them, way deep down, all too often without sharing or acting on that simple, platonic love. Perhaps we are too afraid to be honest… so Pooh shows us it is okay to be bold and open in our friendships.

Finally, Winnie the Pooh teach us to value ourselves. Each of us is unique in who we are. Nobody can do a better job at being us than we can, and all of us have something great to offer to the world. Winnie the Pooh celebrates our uniqueness. As Piglet says, “The things that make me different are the things that make me.” And within each of us is hidden potential. Christopher Robin, the embodiment of childlike wisdom in the stories, says, “Always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” Even a bear of very little brain can inspire others, help those in need, and solve difficult problems. Nobody is without worth or value, least of all ourselves.

The Genius of Childhood Values

Genius needs to value things in order to grow. It needs direction as much as an adventurer needs a direction in order to explore. Without it, we can become lost in the woods, unable to find our way out. So it is no wonder that Winnie the Pooh shares the three most important values in life with children: love for life, love for others, and love for ourselves. Devaluing any of these inevitably leads to misery, hate, and fear- a garden where real genius cannot grow. They are the core of genius, and the heart of the Winnie the Pooh stories. Humanity has read and watched them for almost 100 years now, not because they take us back to simpler times, but because they remind us of what really matters. There are many things from childhood we ought to rediscover on a regular basis, and one of them is how children are taught about meaningful things. There will never be a time in our lives when those lessons are not needed. For my part, I am grateful that in my own life, whatever happens along the way, the Hundred Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh will always be there to visit again when we need them.