I really enjoyed reading Benjamin Hoff’s Tao of Pooh. It was such an interesting book, and I thought the whole idea of it was completely fascinating. I had loved Winnie the Pooh as a child and it was because of the diverse personality of the characters. Although I’m not sure if the author Winnie the Pooh really wrote the story with Taoism in mind, I think Hoff did a great job relating the two. I have always found Winnie the Pooh, and his simplicity I think is what made him so loveable.
" Not like Pooh, the most effortless Bear we've ever seen."
"Just How do you do it, Pooh?"
"Do What?" asked Pooh.
"Become so Effortless."
"I don't do much of anything," he said.
"But all those things of yours get done."
"They just sort of happen," he said (70)
"Just How do you do it, Pooh?"
"Do What?" asked Pooh.
"Become so Effortless."
"I don't do much of anything," he said.
"But all those things of yours get done."
"They just sort of happen," he said (70)
I do agree with Hoff that Pooh has a very “go with the flow” way of thinking. He is never complaining, unlike his friend Eeyore, and things always do end up having for Pooh. The whole idea of thinking positively and things will happen I feel really does play in here a great deal. Since Pooh is so simple and has that perspective of seeing everything as positive, good things do come to him. Also Pooh has this ability to be loved by everyone. I feel that has to do with his simplicity and his positive way of thinking. However, looking at Eeyore and how much he complains, he reminds me a great deal of the “American way of thinking.” I thought it was very true what Hoff had said about the “culture of Busy Backsons.” I had first thought, well maybe the term shouldn’t be applied just to American culture, but instead to more developed nations, with fast paced economies, and heavy industrialization, however I do not think its true. There are several other western, developed countries in the world that aren’t subjected to the Busy Backson view of the world as much as Americans. I think it is true that Americans do try to save their time all the time, but in the end, they are just using it up regardless, that there really is no such thing as saving time. So if that is the case, maybe we should all just take a step back and enjoy our lives. I think what Hoff is basically trying to teach is through his interesting examples of Winnie the Pooh and friends, is just that. By living a much simpler live, we can achieve the things we want. That we do not have to have crazy thought-processes for things to occur. "Pooh hasn't much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right." (21) The way ‘things just happen’ to Pooh, Hoff is saying that things can happen to us as well, as long as we change our way of thinking. I do think that Taoism can act as a solution to the American problem; however I do not think that it is necessarily a realistic solution. I think it takes a great deal for people to change, and that we are to stuck in our American way of thinking for us to really be able to slow down. I think individual people changing won’t be enough to change a whole countries way of thinking. Maybe if there was a federal law that allowed people to take a siesta every day, or had other laws that allowed more built-in ‘down-time’ this could perhaps act as a catalyst to a more Taoist way of thinking.
I agree with you that most minds of the American culture are very similar to the way Eeyore things. they do complain on many issues. Also i think that taking a step back from being busy all the time we can enjoy life. The concept of the uncarved block proves that life can be fun
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your post. I think that Americans do resemble Eeyore a lot of times. Whenever we do not get our way with things, one of the first things that Americans will do is complain and have that "woe is me" sort of attitude. I do think that we also tend me resemble the Busy Backsons, because most Americans especially young working Americans, tend to work, go to school, be involved in different organizations, amongst other things and very seldom do we take time out to rest.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed reading the Tao of Pooh and growing up Winnie Pooh was a must watch television show for me. I never realized how “effortless” Pooh was. After reading the book I too wondered if the author of Winnie the Pooh really wrote the story with Taoism in mind. Because Hoff did such a great job comparing the two. I also, agree with you when you said the idea of thinking positively and good things will happen. This concept I have heard before , but I never paid attention that ,that concept was one Pooh used.
ReplyDeleteI think Americans try to save time too, I’m one of them. I think time management is extremely important. I always have a schedule of things to do , I feel like I cant get things done without a to do list. It works for me a majority of time , but it usually catches up with me and aI start to feel overwhelmed and have to many task to take on, and I usually have to take time for myself to keep sane lol. But I think if I used some of the concepts in the Tao of Pooh and live a more simpler life I wouldn’t get overwhelmed as often. I think people often do get stuck in their ways. So even if Taoism was used as solution to bisy backsons, in American culture it would be hard for Americans to grasp. Especially the concept of doing nothing is something, I feel like Americans need to stay busy in order to feel productive.
On the one hand the idea of a federal law that allowed for down town would be a great idea, and maybe more people would be acceptable to it. On the other hand I feel as though competition is so deeply rooted in American culture it wouldn’t last long. It would be that one person who felt like they could use that time to get ahead instead of taking the time to relax and simply enjoy life.
I completely agree that Americans tend to complain too much. Pooh just seems to go with the flow which is a characteristic uncommon to most people. I dont disagree that Americans are busy backsons, especially compared to other countries, but I will say that I have a different outlook on it. Over the last couple of years, I have learned that tomorrow is not promised to anyone. And so, I make the best of every day down to the very last minute! :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the Busy Backson syndrome is characteristic of all modern, industrialized nations. For some reason, it seems to be uniquely American. I studied abroad in Australia last Spring and I must say, Australians have an extremely laid-back, go-with-the-flow attitude. Even without being a country of Busy Backsons, Australia is still a modern, major world power. I'm not sure what makes Americans feel like they have to be constantly moving and working in order to be successful. If we just look to other nations and mimic some of their ideas, we might realize that we can be more laid back and still remain a strong, thriving country.
ReplyDeleteI agree that many Americans have a little Eeyore in them. We like to complain about anything that doesn't go our way. Also, many developed countries are busy backsons but there are still some that realize they can relax as well. We were raised with schedules and drilled with time management; it is the American way of thinking.
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