So here’s one of the war wounds:

It’s my outdoor lighting shoot (round 2) and I think I have grown to hate it. Hopefully it’ll go over well to someone!

Things were simpler back then. We didn’t realize all the innuendos imbedded in the cartoons we watched, specifically Winnie the Pooh. Back then, he was just a tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. If you ask me, it’s just a nice way to say he’s a fat little bear that’s full of crap. Don’t get me wrong. I love Pooh bear. My dog’s name is Winnie. But after reading The Tao of Pooh, I realized how un-thoughtful our thoughtful little friend can be.

Take the story about Eeyore’s birthday where Pooh went to get Eeyore a jar of honey from his house. On Pooh’s journey back to Eeyore, he grew hungry and ate all the honey, thinking how proud he was for being so clever to bring a snack with him. He then got up and remembered where he was going after losing all train of thought and realized he ate Eeyore’s present. He took the jar to Owl who wrote, Happy Birthday Eeyore, on it. He proceeded to give him the jar as a last minute fix, which would be fine, except the intended gift was the honey. But Pooh ate the honey. That’s not creative. It’s selfish. Meanwhile, Piglet gave Eeyore a balloon that popped when he fell on it. It’s a perfect example of how something that could’ve been looked at negatively turned out positive. And thanks to Taoism, Pooh and Piglet are made out to look like heroes rather than the lazy, thoughtless creatures they are.

I’m by no means insinuating these were thoughtless gifts. I can appreciate the sentimentality behind it, and it’s not like they had any money. They’re a bunch of animals in the woods. Or are they? I recall reading about a piece of mail sent to a Mister Pooh Bear advertising a shoe sale. Later on in the story, Pooh was caught with a closet full of shoes ranging from sizes 8 1/2 to 12 1/2. Pooh doesn’t even wear shoes. Where did he get the money for them? But, more importantly, if he had money to blow on shoes he had no intention of wearing, why the hell is Eeyore getting some jacked up honey pot?

Or what about the time Eeyore was stuck in the river? Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit and Roo were playing Poohsticks when they noticed Eeyore’s dilemma. A glorious example of Wu Wei where Pooh doesn’t think, he just does, to get the job done. Pooh’s brilliant idea was to get the biggest rock he could carry to throw at him. Save him. More like take him out. When the boulder hit him and he disappeared under the water, someone did take note that Piglet’s stick was just ahead of Rabbit’s in the game. Now that’s friendship.

If you ask me, Pooh had some grudge against Eeyore. No wonder that donkey was so depressed all the time. You would be too if you had some stupid bear plotting your demise and getting credit and presents for things he doesn’t even do.

The purpose of The Tao of Pooh is to restore our tainted adult image of Winnie the Pooh. Now that we’re grown-up, we see through his schemes for what he really is: a dense, simple-minded and selfish bear. Or a tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. Yes, Winnie the Pooh is a shining example of the Taoist points brought up in the book. He’s laid-back, efficient in his thinking and does without doing. His efforts are effortless. But are they ethical?