Just the thing
Matt and Drew are among countless readers who love Eeyore. Walt Disney World, 1995
“Eeyore, what are you doing there?” said Rabbit
“I’ll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he’ll always get the answer.”
“But, Eeyore,” said Pooh in distress, “what can we — I mean, how shall we — do you think if we –“
“Yes,” said Eeyore. “One of those would be just the thing. Thank you, Pooh.”
— Eeyore, as quoted by A. A. Milne
Don’t you just love Eeyore? Of course his gloom can be tiresome, but after awhile it becomes very endearing. And anyway, even those of us who are more like Tigger or Piglet or Pooh have at least a bit of Eeyore in us. Sometimes when we’re very tired and in need of help, the last thing we feel like doing is answering a lot of well-intended questions that only add to our exhaustion because they have no quick or easy answer — or, as in Eeyore’s situation above, the answer seems so obvious to us that it baffles us why anyone would need to ask.
Next time you’re having an Eeyore day (and maybe it’s today!) go easy on yourself and just accept being Eeyore for awhile. He may be a tad depressed, but he certainly has staying power! Just look how long he has lived, delighting the hearts of countless children for generations.
This post was originally published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: A. A. Milne, caring, children's literature, Disney, Eeyore, friends, gloomy, helping, Hundred Acre Woods, pessimism, Pooh, sadness, understanding, whimsy
Defeat Despair 
Eeyore. How old is he now? I have been called by this name, more than once. Those born under the sign of Saturn. Saturnalia.?Those with an affinity for Italian opera like my grandfather B. Those who occasionally like to sit in the ashes -like Cinderella- not a bad thing. This is a whole archetype thing. We all need to sit in the ashes occasionally before we go out to the ball. Those like Churchill who are sometimes hounded by the ,”black dog” on their shoulder.
Hey my little meditation is coming out next month July 30 and it was written here in north Georgia. I should have added a MFTA about all the amazing flora and fauna in the north Georgia woods. And the Mimosa silk trees are now in full splendour.
According to Wikipedia, Eeyore first appeared in 1926, so he is 94 this year. I used to occasionally call Jeff an Eeyore, as he was a much gloomier sort than I was. But you are right, there’s a place in the world for pessimism and even depression, as long as they don’t establish a stranglehold that shuts out all possibility of hope or happiness. Is your meditation going to be published in Upper Room? Be sure to let us know when it comes out so we can link to it. Yes, the north Georgia woods are truly places of beauty. And the Mimosa, which many people seem to see as an invasive pest, is a particular favorite with me because of my fond childhood memories of the huge mimosa tree that was near our home in Jonesboro.
Good morning, Julia!
Oh, my word! Patrick asks me, “what are you doing?” as a sort of greeting anytime he was into a space where I am.
Him: What are you doing?
Me: Emptying the dishwasher.
Him: What are you doing?
Me: Knitting.
Him: What are you doing?
Me: I call this “Watering the Plants….”
It was driving me crazy at one point and I let him know, so it stopped for a while. Old habits are hard to break, though.
I like Eeyore’s answer.
Have a great day!
“Give [Patrick] time and he’ll find the answer.” 😀
Yes the Upper Room on July 30th. One of my son’s coworkers -Web Smith- had one come out this month on the 14th? of June about lost keys. He is also a firefighter in Marietta. If you get a chance to see it, one of the comments by “One True love” in the comments section spoke for a lot of folks about the Pandemic state of mind. She was in the midst of , “escaping ” from everything- including her husband. Web’s devotional was also great and he had a tribute to his military Dad.
I have one more in the works. We are pretty nervous about flying next week. We will see.
Wow, I didn’t know (or maybe forgot) that you would be flying. Are you going to see your son in NYC?
No we are going to Seattle to check on our place. It is kind of – I don’t know—-. It will be interesting. Our place is rented out now in So.Seattle and our little cabin at Westport where we will be staying- not too far from the beach. I do miss the beach.
If you get a chance watch,” Burden “about a black baptist minister played by one of my favorite actors Forrest Whitaker in a town that has just opened a KKK museum.
I sent my little book off to my NYC grands. I can try to send you an online file if you would like. I did a couple of illustrations for it,but i can see now there could be a bunch more.
“The best thing about the rain is that it stops.” Eventually.
I didn’t realize you had kept your places in Seattle. I don’t blame you for wanting to go check on them. Stay safe and have a nice trip!