The Positive Power of Pippi
Curious what Pippi Longstocking has to do with living your best life? She’s the perfect example of someone following her gifts and thriving!
Pippi Longstocking, created by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, was my childhood hero. I was energized, motivated, and emboldened by her. I loved her self-confidence, her fearlessness, and exciting adventures. She was generous, kind, funny, threw the best parties, stood up to bullies and was unencumbered by school or any other conventions for that matter.
Recently my husband (who is well aware of my love of Pippi), purchased tickets to see a showing of two recovered episodes of the Pippi Longstocking television series at the Arts & Culture Museum, Barcelona. As an adult, I had long ago embraced the obvious: Pippi is a feminist icon! Ask no other than Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
“I was so glad to have a book about a feisty, independent-spirited girl in an age when most books (at least in the US) were of the "Dick and Jane" genre, in which Dick was a do-er, running and climbing, and Jane was sitting sedately in her pretty pink dress."
Pippi Longstocking remains a source of inspiration for gender equality, financial independence, fighting injustice, questioning everything, and opening a dialogue for us to do the same. But when I attended this recent film showing, I couldn’t help but see her through a positive psychology lens and recognize how she personifies the joy experienced when you come from an authentic place, aligned with your values and character strengths. AND of course it got me thinking, I wonder what are Pippi’s Top 5 Character strengths?
“Pippi Longstocking was my girl. I loved her strength — not just her physical power, but the idea that she wouldn’t allow her voice to be diminished by anyone.”
After a bit of time having fun deciding on what Pippi’s signature strengths would be, I decided that it’s just too hard to limit them to just five. She clearly demonstrates a wide variety of strengths according to the Three E’s:
Essential: The strengths are core to who you are.
Energizing: The strengths are uplifting and give you a boost of energy or joy.
Effortless: The strengths come easy and naturally to you—you can use them without effort.
Pippi’s Take on Gifts
So instead of trying to identify Pippi’s Top 5 strengths, I collected a few of her self-declarations, and quotes to let you decide for yourself. If you know your character strengths, you may find inspiration and a spark of joy in Pippi’s expression of your shared gift. Like I have personally found in Pippi’s motto “Don’t worry about me. I will always come up on top.”
Pippi quotes as I relate them to her possible character strengths:
Kindness: “Do not wait for people to smile at you. Show them how it’s done!”
Honesty: “Let me tell you, it’s dangerous to keep quiet too long; your tongue shrivels up if you don’t use it.”
Gratitude: “How nice it is to live.”
Leadership: “If you are very strong, you must also be very kind.”
Hope: “I’ll make the world the way I like it.”
Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence: “The whole world is filled with things that are just waiting for someone to come along and find them.”
Creativity: “I’ve been wondering if it’s possible to make a ski run from the roof down to the snowdrifts,” said Pippi. “I’m planning to teach the horse to ski, but I can’t work out if he needs four skis or two.”
Bravery: ″I don’t think you have particularly good manners with ladies,” said Pippi. Then she lifted him high into the air with her strong arms. She carried him into a nearby birch tree, and hung him across a branch.
Curiosity: “Who said children should go to sleep at seven?”
Virtue of Justice: “Why I walked backwards?” Pippi said. “We live in a free country, don't we? Aren't you allowed to walk any way you want?”
I’m grateful to my husband for surprising me with this outing to watch Pippi, to see her once again with a new perspective. I think we could all benefit from a little “Pippi” in our lives, making us aware of all those little big things. To remind us of the extraordinary in the ordinary, and that we all have the opportunity to shape our lives and work to make them a bit more fair, kind, creative, and of course, FUN!
We are continuing the fun and Pippi positivity on our Instagram feed this week. Join me there for an extra dose of positivity and zest, in a way only Pippi can deliver.
