The Warm Fuzzy Tale

This is my 100th blog of life strategies for well-being!  So, as a special treat, I’m going to share with you a summary of  my favourite folk tale by Claude Steiner – called ‘The Warm Fuzzy Tale,’ which was first published in 1970.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the tale, it introduces the concept of ‘warm fuzzies’ and cold pricklies.’ I think we could all do with an abundance of ever-growing warm fuzzies, in these challenging times. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, there lived two happy people, called Tim and Maggie, with their two children, John and Lucy. Everyone, in the land was given a small, soft Fuzzy bag when born, which was the source of their happiness. Any time a person reached into their bag, they were able to pull out a Warm Fuzzy.

Whenever someone was given a Warm Fuzzy, it made them feel warm and fuzzy all over. People were always asking each other for Warm Fuzzies. There was always plenty to go around, because they naturally reproduced inside the Warm Fuzzy bag.

One day, a bad witch, who made potions for sick people became angry because everyone was so happy they were not buying her wares. She devised a cunning plan.

One morning, the witch crept up to Tim and  whispered in his ear that he should be concerned about how many Warm Fuzzies Maggie was giving out, because she might run out of them, when her bag became empty. This perturbed Tim greatly, as he liked Maggie’s Warm Fuzzies. He became grumpy and complained to Maggie, who decided to only give her Warm Fuzzies to Tim in future.

The children noticed this new behaviour and even though there was a new Warm Fuzzy every time they reached into their bag, they began to feel guilty when they gave them away. They became more and more stingy with them and began to feel bad.

In time, this change developed across the land and people began to pair off and reserve their Warm Fuzzies exclusively for each other. They began to give out far fewer Warm Fuzzies and people began to feel less warm and fuzzy. They all started buying potions from the witch, to help them feel better.

The witch began to worry that people might die, so she devised a new plan. Everyone was given a new bag full of Cold Pricklies, which they began to give out to each other, to preserve their precious Warm Fuzzies. As a result, people became very unhappy, feeling cold and prickly all over.

The result was that there were fewer Warm Fuzzies around and they became valuable, and people started to sell them to those who were feeling miserable.

They had to work long hours in order to earn the money to buy them.

Some even made fake Warm Fuzzies by coating the Cold Pricklies white and fluffy. These were really Plastic Fuzzies and they caused additional problems. When these were freely given out, people became even more confused because they couldn’t understand why they felt cold and prickly when they thought they’d received a Warm Fuzzy.

So the situation was very dismal, all because of the witch who had convinced them that eventually their Warm Fuzzy bags would run out.

Then a strong woman, with big hips and a lovely smile came to this unhappy land and because she’d never heard about the witch, she wasn’t worried about running out of Warm Fuzzies. She gave them out freely. People were concerned that she was giving the children the idea that they shouldn’t worry about running out of Warm Fuzzies either. They were feeling happy again and continued to share their Warm Fuzzies with others.

The grown ups became very worried and passed a law, making it a criminal offence to give out Warm Fuzzies in a reckless manner. The children ignored the law.

Because there were many children, almost as many as the adults, it looked as if they were going to have their way.

It’s hard to say what might happen. Will the forces of law and order stop the children? Or will the adults join forces with the Hip Woman and the children in taking a chance that there will always be as many Warm Fuzzies as needed?

The struggle continues across the land. It’s probably going on where you live. You can play your bit by “freely giving and asking for Warm Fuzzies and by being as loving and healthy as you can.”

I send you an abundance of ‘warm fuzzies’ for your well-being.

Author of ‘Wearing Red, One Woman’s Journey to Sanity’

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