It’s time to get things started?

3 Dec

The Muppet Christmas Carol gives us a serious turn from Michael Caine, timeless muppet fun, memorable songs and even therapeutic lessons!

In the past, the Christmas past, Scrooge sees his childhood, and we see it too. His remorse highlights the understanding of how unchecked greed and isolation has affected his mental well-being and it comes as a surprise to him how innocent he was. As in client work - his first visit back reveals an objective look, a reflection upon what changed in the intervening years. In the past he is able to see that loss, begin understanding how that experience is presenting itself in the now. What might he have become under different circumstances?

Currently, in the here and now, Scrooge does not value empathy and connection - why would he? We only see the adult that emerged on the other side of a lifetime of defences. All looks lost now, but what has been lost are those early social bonds for emotional health.

In the absence of our own ghostly Christmas revelation, to understand Scrooge is to approach things phenomenologically. To understand where he was emotionally at that earlier period and how he experienced it back then. Therein lies compassion for the child, then the adult. Avoiding social connections kept him safe, chasing wealth brought security. It made sense there, that’s how he felt then, what he felt he needed to do. We don’t understand him now because he has wealth, we cannot see his motivation to accumulate more. He doesn’t require more, but the part of him driving forward is a fearful, childlike accountant. It merely appears to us as greed.

If we could go back and visit someone’s childhood we’d see the pain behind their defence, and why they present in the here and now as they do. Poor Scrooge, nothing sobers you up like looking at your gravestone! However, looking to the future, there can always be hope that transformation can take place. To witness that is a privilege and why the story is so enduring. His therapeutic, muppet-based apparitions help him to acknowledge the influence of the past, cherish the present connections, and embrace the potential for personal growth. In Scrooge’s case, charity, joy and redemption!

It’s never too late for any of us to change, in fact, some wise muppets once said,