Jennifer McCartney - The Little Book of Otter Philosophy

HarperCollinsPublishers

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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

FIRST EDITION

Text and poetry Jennifer McCartney 2019

Illustrations Clare Faulkner 2019

All poetry is the authors own unless otherwise stated

Cover layout design HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Jennifer McCartney asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008341817

Ebook Edition August 2019 ISBN: 9780008341824

Version: 2019-08-01

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Stressed? Overworked? No time for play? There must be an otter way!

Otters are some of the most delightful animals on the planet. These long, lean, furry creatures embody pure joy in so many ways. What other species builds water slides for fun? Or holds hands with their friends just because? Or wraps themselves in seaweed, so they can nap without floating away? These intelligent, water-dwelling mammals are not only an essential part of the worlds (and YouTubes) ecosystem, they also have a lot to teach us about the way we live.

In a world obsessed with work and productivity, otters are a reminder about the importance of play. Theyre fun, lively animals that love a good laugh with friends. They dont give a shit about deadlines, or who ate the last bonbon or how many emails are in their inbox. Hell, they dont really stress about anything. Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game is their motto (and Michael Jordans). They resist the assumption that being an adult requires a serious, no-nonsense attitude. They embrace playtime like its their job. They laugh and chatter and take group naps together, to-do lists be damned. And theyve also been on this planet in some form or another for around 6 million years a testament to the value of their way of life, surely? In a world that often feels isolating and lonely, where hard work and productivity are valued above all else, its high time we recognised the wisdom of these joyful, friendly animals.

If youve been paying attention to the internet or been to the zoo in recent years, youre likely a bit envious of the otter already. Weve all seen videos of otters holding hands, playing with balls and nibbling sea urchins (and I mean literally everyone has seen them these videos have 40 billion views). And everyone from your mum to your best friend sends you otter GIFs, otter birthday cards and links to articles about otters doing cute things. Look! we seem to be saying, Look at this joy! Share this joy with me! But perhaps were also wondering: is this kind of joy really possible? Well, the otter philosophy is here to tell you that it is. And the PLAY method will show you how. So, whats their secret? Why are they so happy? What can we learn from these slippery little joy weasels? Read on, and wonder no more.

The Little Book of Otter Philosophy is packed with otter science, studies on friendship (friends can help you live longer), napping and playfulness (play can keep you feeling younger), quotes, original poems and quizzes to help you live life like you otter.

Remember when everyone lost their minds over adult colouring books? Were desperate for fun.

Numerous otter puns are also included for your enjoyment.

Otters out-fun monkeys by any measure. Sorry, Curious George.

Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.

Mark Twain

Otters love to learn. Theyre almost insatiably curious about everything and anything. So the first step to following the otter philosophy is learning its key tenets, albeit in an easy, fun way. Now, every book that purports to be helpful requires a neat acronym to help the memory-challenged among us to retain a useful takeaway. So please find here the PLAY method:

P

Plunge in. This probably sounds a bit weird and thats because there arent a lot of motivational things that begin with P. But the point here is to embrace the elements. Forget about constantly protecting yourself, and be sure to enjoy the opportunity to get wet when it arises as an otter would. In a literal sense, this means always bringing your swimsuit if theres a pool, lake, hot tub or lazy river at your destination. It means never bringing an umbrella. (If theres wind, its pointless, and if theres a light drizzle, enjoy the feeling of getting wet.) In a monsoon, youre probably indoors anyway. In a figurative sense, taking the plunge means acting impulsively. Trying new things. Fully committing to your actions. Going all in no half measures here. You get the idea. Basically, always say yes to skinny dipping. I realise it may seem like people only go skinny dipping in the movies, but if youre young or old or somewhere in between, and someone somewhere asks you if you want to jump naked into a body of water, flabby bits and all, you wont regret saying yes.

L

Laugh about it. Otters technically dont smile or laugh, probably, but theyre happy and playful and look to be enjoying life most of the time. Being able to see the funny side of things is an important coping mechanism. The ability to laugh in the midst of our darkest moments is a healthy way of dealing with lifes hard knocks. When my dad falls down in public (he has Parkinsons disease), he often jokes that he does it for the attention (specifically, the attention of the ladies who rush to help him up). In fact, black humour is one of the best ways to deal with horrible things, if you can manage it. And its a great way to deal with the random stupidity that is daily life. Of course, when somethings actually funny, its the best thing in the world to laugh out loud. Not a keyboard LOL, but a true vocal cackle or bark or shriek or guffaw whatever noise you emit when youre truly happy. And whats so serious, anyway? I mean, I know lots of things are, and its not about trivialising whats truly important to us. But well all be dead soon. Might as well have a bit of fun along the way.