When my dear friend shared with me the movie trailer for Christopher Robin as we celebrated our birthdays a few weeks ago, I just knew I’d have to see it. And lucky me, she wanted to see it also.
I’m still relishing in the sweetness and fun we shared together which included a big bucket of popcorn between us as we gently and willingly tumbled back to our childhoods as Christopher Robin and the gang came onto the big screen.
How can one not love a yellow bear in a red mid-drift sweater, the gloom and doom of the oh-so-lovable Eeyore, the adorable Piglet, and the enthusiasm of Tigger? I can never say Tigger without spelling it out and hearing it in my mind just like Tigger actually says it when introducing himself, T-I-double Ga-er!
The movie begins with a bit of background of the young Christopher Robin playing with his friends in the place many of us came to love, Hundred Acre Woods. I loved how the film depicted the flipping of pages of a book and a timeline of Christopher Robin’s life to the present, all grown up now, married, and with a young daughter named Madeline.
As often happens we all grow up and leave behind our childhood days too, the pivotal moments and memories that take a back seat to a world of demands from life and work. And how often we lose our way and lose sight of what matters. Christopher Robin, even though we’d like to believe he didn’t lose his way, is no different, as the film plays out showing him in a demanding job and missing out on spending time with his family.
While his wife and daughter go off to spend the weekend at their cottage, Christopher must stay behind because of the demands of work. Madeline leaves behind a drawing on the kitchen table of Pooh and the gang she found tucked in her father’s things, along with a note for her dad…. with of course, a jar of honey.
And wouldn’t you know it as his wife and daughter are away, and Christopher home alone… Pooh shows up just in time to help Christopher Robin and guide him back to his inner child.
The poignant message from Pooh hits early on in the movie once Christopher accepts his reality as being pulled back to the place he needs to be now in order to reclaim what he knew all along, but had forgotten.
It’s Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh on the bridge, throwing sticks once again into the water, watching them float under the bridge and back out again, when Pooh says, Doing nothing often leads to the best something.
How often as adults and in a world that spins faster and faster, we forget that pushing, pushing, pushing isn’t the way. The more we push, the less we feel, the less we feel, the more we spin our wheels, and lose sight of what’s important.
The theatre was packed that afternoon, with many giggles from children that could be heard. For me, this lent itself beautifully to reminiscing about the favorite parts of my childhood that I can recall – the stories I loved, such as Winnin-the-Pooh, and the many stuffed animals I had as friends that comforted me often.
While sometimes I think these movies are more for adults with some of the messages kids may not yet understand, I found myself hoping that even if the kids didn’t yet fully understand the message, that it stays with them as they too someday become adults…and my hope that they will bring to this world the importance and value of doing nothing on a regular basis, which really is something, that keeps us in alignment with who we truly are.
XO,
Barbara