A Defense of Teddy Bears

People are too serious. There comes a time in every human's life when they forget about their childhood pets, toys and games. Teddy bears are stuffed into sealed cardboard boxes and locked in the attic. The little pet frog you found in Mother's garden somehow escapes and is never seen again. Playing games like hide-and-seek and duck-duck-goose become 'childish', 'stupid', and 'immature'. Your parents tell you to grow up and get a job. Soon, you are consumed, always running, always doing things. Never still. You don't have time to listen to other people's problems, to let someone cry on your shoulder, because you'll be late for a meeting.

But people are selfish. People just want someone to love them. We don't care about another person's feelings if they don't care about ours. We hold grudges, break promises, go behind each other's backs and literally kill each other. This brings me to teddy bears, and the loyalty they hold. No matter how long he's been left in your attic, stuffed into some obscure, shadowed corner and wreathed in cobwebs, he will still love you as much as the first day you held him. He will still soak up your salty tears as you cry selfishly over another human. He won't think twice about how you got mad and threw him across your bedroom when you were seven because Mommy wouldn't give you ice cream before bed.

"The world doesn't get any less scary as we grow up, but somehow we're asked to shed the icons of our childhood so we can become big people. Fuck that."--Rock Paper Cynic

There's something in a teddy bear's stuffing that soaks up all of our fear, anger, uncertainty, and sadness. No matter what, he will never leave you alone in the dark. We try to replace them with other people, but other people are filled with the same selfish goo as we are. A teddy bear will accept your tears and your abuse and your selfish love like he always has. He'll love you just as much as the day you left him in the attic. A teddy bear is the only one who truly knows that love is unconditional. And most of all, he'll make you remember.

He'll make you remember how sweet childhood was, how you long to go back there and live it all again. Innocence is something people grow out of, whether they want to or not. It happens as we grow up, learning new words and phrases, new meanings for everything. In some cases, ignorance is bliss, and teddy bears are one of those things that help you remain so.

"He'll make you remember how to be a person."--Rock Paper Cynic