Once a year

I first encountered the book ‘The Tao of Pooh’ by Benjamin Hoff in 1996. I can’t recall how I found it; whether it was a recommendation or whether I just saw it in a bookshop. I do recall reading it in (I think) Waterstones in Liverpool and then purchasing it. My copy is a hardback which also includes ‘The Te of Piglet’ by the same author.

This is a wonderful book which does an excellent job presenting and explaining the basic tenets of Taoism, through the characters of Pooh and his friends. Here’s an A. A. Milne quote that is used in the book:

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. 
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s the same thing,” he said.

Brilliant. So simple.

Now I’m not religious and I’m not a philosopher. I do however enjoy experiencing things that help everything that goes on in life make sense. This book is one of those things.

Once a year, I plan to take some time out to read this book and remind myself that Things Are As They Are. And it’s all good.

 

TV shows and nostalgia

Yesterday, in the car on the drive back to Guildford from the Wirral, we were listening to the ‘Yellow Submarine Songtrack’, courtesy of my Father who decided we (or more accurately, Holly, our almost-5-year-old daughter) could borrow it. Holly’s known to be a fan of the song ‘Yellow Submarine’ and it was a tearful farewell, so the lending of the CD was an admirable attempt to stem the tears.

Anyway, the song ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ came on and into my head popped a recollection of Joe Cocker’s version of this song, which was the opening theme song for the TV series ‘The Wonder Years’. Cue an onslaught of nostalgic feelings. ‘The Wonder Years’ used to be shown on Sundays on Channel 4. I think it started sometime around 1988 or 1999, when I would have been aged 11 or 12, just like the show’s main character, Kevin. I used to watch it with my brother and I remember it incredibly fondly.

That got me thinking about ‘Dawson’s Creek’. I was never a huge Dawson’s Creek fan, but my wife Rena was. In the late stages of her first pregnancy (with Holly), Rena got hold of a DVD box set of Dawson’s Creek from somewhere. One day when we were close to the due date, Rena thought things might be starting, and whilst we were pretty laid back about it all, I decided to work from home just in case. Rena spent most of the day watching Dawson’s Creek whilst sitting on one of those big inflatable rubber ball things, like you get in the gym. That evening we went to the hospital and the next morning, Holly arrived. As a result, the show ‘Dawson’s Creek’ has a huge emotional connection for us to the birth of our first child. 

I can’t think of anything in recent years that’s going to create such a response in me in the future. With the onset of series-linking on Sky+ and DVD box sets, it’s pretty easy to watch an entire series of something now without missing an episodes and we’ve done so plenty – 24, Lost, etc. I think the only show of recent times that we really miss is ‘The West Wing’ but I don’t think there’s an emotional connection there.