What Charlie Brown taught me

I grew up reading Peanuts cartoons, and I always appreciated Charles Schulz’s gentle humor and the interactions of different characters.  Each of the characters was very different, but you could tell they all liked each other.

Even Fuss Budget Lucy.

Have you ever seen You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (affiliate link)?  I was lucky enough to be in that musical in high school.  It says a lot about friendship and about how simple it can be.

This past month, well months really, I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship with everything going on.  So, here are the lessons I’ve learned from Peanuts and Charles Schulz.

You don’t have to be the same to be friends

The Peanuts characters are all different.  Snoopy is a dog, Linus carries a blanket, Charlie Brown is insecure, Lucy is a bit of a bully, Peppermint Patty is over-the-top confident.  But, they are all friends.

Among my friends, one is a naturalist and a racer.  She loves to go running 10 miles.  All of her food is organic if she can manage it, and she buys raw milk.  Another friend likes zombie movies has a somewhat dark sense of humor and likes those end of the earth scenarios.  I could go on for quite a while about the differences.

But it’s those differences that help us each bring something to the story. It’d be boring if we were all robots.

It’s okay to fight sometimes

In today’s society, we have put a high value on tolerance.  But, as its’ interpreted it’s not we disagree, but get along, it’s you have to say my decisions are okay even if you think I’m wrong.

This leads to lots of problems.  Charles Schulz created characters who had tiffs, but at the end of the day still got along.

The song I included at the beginning comes at the end of the musical.  After Charlie Brown has been disgraced for losing a baseball game.  After Lucy and Charlie Brown have fought over how to teach her little brother.  After Snoopy and Linus have fought over Linus’ blanket.  After Schroeder and Lucy have disagreed on her plans for his life.

But, at the end of the day, they can still agree they are friends.  It’s okay to fight sometimes.

Age and distance don’t matter in friendship

Linus is Lucy’s younger brother, yet is Charlie Brown’s best friend.  Peppermint Patty lives across town from everyone else, yet they remain friends.

In real life, it’s hard to stay friends as young kids across different age ranges.  Your interests change and it becomes hard to stay friends.  But, as adults, it doesn’t really matter what age you are.  Do you get along?  Do you share common interests?

Distance for me is more difficult.  I know friendships can flourish and thrive long distance. I’ve gained many great friends online who I’ve never met in real life.  I’ve emailed with them, talked on the phone with one or two of them, and dreamed about meeting them in real life.

I struggle with the person I know in real life but is about to move.  Two of my best friends are about to move to Iowa.  I’ve tried to convince them it’s a horrible idea and Iowa is going to be infested by zombies, but they’re not believing it.  Sigh, so I’m going to be entering a new phase of friendship with them.

Long distance

I don’t really like it, but I know things will survive and be fine.

I guess, ultimately, that’s what this post is about.  I will be fine, and our friendships will grow and turn in a new direction.

So, thanks for listening to me ramble about my friendship lessons from Charles Schulz.

There are more birthday lessons from the other ladies at iHomeschool Network (and most of them are much less introspective than mine). Gah, I’m too tired and overly emotional right now.

I’m heading off in a few hours on a grand vacation with no internet access.  I’ve got some posts scheduled.  I REMEMBERED to get someone to watch the dog.  So, if you don’t hear from me, you know why.