Alleyn's Blog: Wisdom of Pooh: When was the last time you did nothing?

Winnie the Pooh (ne Edward Bear), trusted-companion, gourmand, philosopher, reportedly disclosed, ‘Sometimes I sits and thinks. Other time I just sits.’ Alternative authorial attributions abound, but this goes to prove: a) plagiarism is a pervasive problem; b) he was onto something.  

Our approach to improving wellbeing is generally focussed on ‘doing’: mindfulness activity-books, crafts, focussed meditation, community activities, charitable works, ideal diet, sleep hygiene etc. All these contribute to a balanced, positive approach to life. That’s why we impress their value upon our pupils, discussing how they contribute to positive psychology’s PERMA framework, and why Brainwaves (our wellbeing resources provider) recommend these in their approach to mental health in schools.  

‘Who’s Jean? And why does she have sleepy eyes?’ 

You will have to forgive Pooh. He’s trying to help me but he’s old now and a little hard of hearing. I’ve given him some toast and honey to keep him busy while I finish off this blog. 

Where was I going with all this? Oh yes, back to the point. 

The point is we may have missed the point. On wellbeing, I think we have neglected the most obvious truth: we are too busy and we need to take a break. The answer to a wellbeing crisis might not be to take up baking, ballroom dancing, batik, basketball and so forth. The answer might actually be to cultivate our ‘do nothing’ practice.  

That’s not a sexy message and not an easily marketable one either. Who is going to push that out on socials? Who’s going to profit from it? Doesn’t sound like it would contribute very much to the £178 billion UK wellness industry at all. Pure silliness! 

But to do nothing and see it not as a waste of time but a valuable space in the day, time to just be with ourselves, couldn’t be more important. We’re told from an increasingly young age that we need to achieve to prove our worth, to be the best, to acquire not just some skills but excel in all of them if we are going to have any ‘success’ in life. Essentially, we need to constantly ‘do’ or risk becoming worthless. 

As a result, we fuel our own wellbeing crises. Many of us acquire a ‘doing addiction’, one we try to fix by doing some other things that are going to release the stress of having done so much doing in the first place.  

Gabor Maté in conversation with Dr Rangan Chatterjee attributes a deep drive to our addiction to doing, our ‘unconscious need to justify our existence.’  

Luckily, Maté gives us some direction on how to break that addiction; it starts with Winnie the Pooh. 

‘Vvvwatshshsheeesaaaayinbaaatmiiii?’ Munchmunch. 

‘Don’t eat with your mouth full, bear.’ 

Maté speaks of how he always cried at the final lines of The House at Pooh Corner when Christopher Robbin says goodbye to his friends and ‘puts aside childish things.’ To him, it represent the ‘people sacrificing their joy, their playfulness’ in order to grow up, a childhood trauma in which we are taught to ‘ignore what matters’. Chillingly, that’s a trauma that we still pass to our children setting them up for a life of challenges, primarily the failure to find unconditional self-acceptance, contentment and balance. 

I agree with Maté. My heart breaks to hear Christopher say, ‘I’m not going to do Nothing anymore. Well, not so much. They don’t let you.’ What is poor Christopher being taught beyond ‘People called kings and Queens and something called Factors’? Why must he stop doing his favourite thing? 

Bear of Very Little Brain he may be, but Pooh is no idiot. He’s sad at the thought of losing his friend. The forced betrayal of a character who represents childhood freedom, joy and playfulness is painful to read.  

Not such a Silly Old Bear after all and loyal to the last, Pooh promises to be there whenever Christoher Robin returns, ready to reconnect, to play and to do nothing. 

For all our sakes, maybe we should join them.