One of my favorite childhood cartoons is a Soviet classic about a brave little raccoon. The only thing he was scared of was the Thing in the pool. And THE THING was scary: it would wickedly mug and shamelessly threaten the cute baby raccoon! I hated The Thing myself! I remember running up to TV and shaking my fist at it.

Long story short, the Thing eventually changes its wicked ways – but I won’t spoil how. Watch the cartoon; it tells the story much better than I do.

———

I love how this children’s tale (based on 1963 book by Lilian Moore) teaches kids that our perceptions often shape our reality. What a fab lesson to get early on! The loop of projection, perception, acting, and feedback is vicious:

how we see the other person -> is how we behave towards the other person -> how the other person is being treated by us is how they treat us -> how they treat us reinforces the way we thought about them -> 'I knew it, my way of seeing them is correct, I'm gonna keep seeing them that way AND from now on I know I'm an excellent judge of character -> ∞

Breaking this loop is like trying to untangle Christmas lights—frustrating, but necessary. Otherwise, we’re all just raccoons scared of our own reflections, endlessly running from the Thing in the pool.