what i learned from winnie-the-pooh

"you can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. you have to go to them sometimes." - A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

everything i need to know about life i learned as a child from A.A. Milne. the world of the forest was the perfect place, with adventures, problems to be solved, shenanigans, and most important of all: friendship. 

i wanted to share with you some of the most important lessons i learned from the animals who lived in the forest of christopher robin's imagination. 

"when you are a bear of very little brain, and you think of things, you find sometimes that a thing which seemed very thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it." -- A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

sometimes, i think that the deepest darkest secrets are my deepest darkest shames. but when i bring them into the light, the shame disappears. they become much less "thingish" when they are shared with someone. other people think far less about the things that you think the hardest about. 

"if the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. it may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear." - A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh


sometimes it takes time for a person to understand me. sometimes i have to explain myself more than once. and more importantly, sometimes the person i am talking to isn't ready to listen. that doesn't mean that they don't care - which is the thingish thought that i automatically jump to. it doesn't mean that they don't want to listen. it simply means that they can't hear what you have to say at that moment. 

"well," said pooh, "what i like best," and then he had to stop and think. because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called" - A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

anticipation is often better than the actual event. enjoy those moments. enjoy christmas eve when everything is quiet and it's hard to sleep. enjoy the hush when the lights go out at the movies, or the cheers when the band comes on the stage. enjoy all the little moments, because those are the moments that make up your life. 

"piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude." - A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

as brene brown says, gratitude is a practice, not an attitude. i keep a gratitude journal and each night i make a list of the things that i am grateful for. 

"if ever there is a tomorrow when we're not together ... there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart ... i'll always be with you." - A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

i think the last quote speaks for itself. A.A. Milne taught me to never believe that i am alone, no matter how alone i feel. 

be kind to yourself