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Getting In Touch With Your Inner Pooh

I am always intrigued by how we try to keep the focus on the positives in our life when we “tweet”, “message”, and “post” on social media.  We put our best foot forward.  We exemplify the best version of ourselves.  We look for the good.  We forgive those that have hurt us.  We preach about showing empathy and being respectful.   It is the creation of our personal “brand” lived out through the social media cloud.

All those things are amazing to be and to strive for.  What I do not see a lot of is honesty.  I’m not saying that people are dishonest but I am saying that there are times that things aren’t as rosy as all the social media feeds would like us to believe.

All those things are amazing to be and to strive for.  What I do not see a lot of is honesty.  I’m not saying that people are dishonest but I am saying that there are times that things aren’t as rosy as all the social media feeds would like us to believe.  And while we are being honest, let us also recognize the permanent Eeyore of the group.

Oh wait, does everyone know who Eeyore is?  He was the opposite of Tigger.  At least I always felt like he was the opposite of Tigger.  Please don’t tell me that you don’t know who Tigger is.  If not, you need to get in touch with your inner Winnie the Pooh.  If you don’t know who that is then you really have not lived.

Between Pooh, his friends and his lovely companion Christopher Robin always fretting about rain, you missed some very special lessons that only books can bring us sometimes.  The simplest of nature.  The challenges that are faced.  The different ways of looking at poor Pooh stuck in a tree because he was in his constant search for “hunny”.  The “oh bother” of a problem that needed to be solved and the different input each gave to the solution of the problem.

Life was good but it wasn’t perfect.  Life had problems to solve.  There would be times that Tigger would bounce around obsessively, Rabbit would boss everyone around, Piglet would forever be unsure of himself, Owl would share his wise yet scatterbrained thoughts and Eeyore would lose his tail but they all learned to live with one another and come together.

I might have to go read a bit more about Pooh and his adventures to refresh my memory of what life used to be like when we admitted that the world wasn’t perfect.  A time when we all tried to get along and accepted our differences.  That together we could solve problems.   That the “tut tut it looks like rain” just meant we needed to warn each other of an impending storm.  That we could all take cover under Christopher Robin’s umbrella and assist each other in weathering the storms of life.

Yes, I think it’s time for me to spend some time in the Hundred Acre Woods.  I can’t wait to see what adventures await.

Raissa Urdiales
Raissa Urdiales
Raissa lived most of her life along the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. She currently lives in the quiet city of Tega Cay, South Carolina, just across the border from the very active art community of Charlotte, North Carolina. Raissa has not always considered herself as an artist. She spent a great portion of her adult life staring into computer screens and managing computer system implementations and upgrades in the traditional corporate setting. It was through a chance paint night that she discovered her passion for painting. On her 51st birthday, she treated herself to some acrylic paints and brushes and has not stopped painting since. She balances her passion for creating with her day job as a systems analyst. In the wee hours of the morning, you will find her painting before she immerses herself in the technology that is consuming the world today. Although Raissa does not have formal training in the arts she is very conscious of the benefits it has on the human psyche. She holds a Bachelor's of Science majoring in Psychology where she focused her studies on Organizational Psychology. Through her corporate career, she has learned how to strike a balance between that which provides monetary reward and that which fulfills us as humans. For her, this balance is obtained through painting, writing, and exercise. She is currently a member of the Guild of Charlotte Artists where she exhibits select pieces during the quarterly art shows in and around the Charlotte Metropolitan Area. She has also submitted and is featured regularly in the Light Space & Time online gallery. When she is not painting or working with computer systems, she is writing. She currently has a column with BIZCATALYST 360° named “Artful Being” where she writes on topics both in and out of her corporate life to help others gain balance on what it is to be human.

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8 CONVERSATIONS

  1. Love your whimsical, yet clearly applicable perspective shared in this article Raissa! It helps my heart that Pooh is my all-time favorite character. And, each of his friends have a wonderful life lesson to teach. I’ve been listening to them for upward to 40 something years! 🙂

    • I have very fond memories of my time with Pooh. My mother and my cousins would read me books of his adventures. I even remember my cousin reproducing a small version of the book with paper and stitching it together with thread. Oh the days were creation was done away from technology 🙂

  2. RAISSA URDIALES I read your article when Dennis posted it in Women of Facebook Create on Friday Blog Weekend. I loved it. We learn so much about life and how to celebrate our differences while getting along and working as a group from our childhood books. The lessons are so simple yet so profound and amazingly evergreen. Sharing on my social media pages.

  3. You made me giggle with “There would be times that Tigger would bounce around obsessively, Rabbit would boss everyone around, Piglet would forever be unsure of himself, Owl would share his wise yet scatterbrained thoughts and Eeyore would lose his tail but they all learned to live with one another and come together.” Just like my family :). I hear what you are saying about people’s postings seeming like fluff (my word), I see it too and it makes me think they are just trying to make themselves feel better.

    • I think it’s partly to make them feel better and partly to compete. I guess I’m a little of both. At the heart of all of us is desire to be happy. We just aren’t sure how to get there sometimes. Thank you for reading and commenting. It warms my heart!

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