Puppets have been teaching us life lessons since our parents plopped us down in front of Sesame Street so they could nap for 15 minutes and avoid insanity. But just because we've grown up and gotten smart enough to stop answering questions asked by television characters doesn't mean there's nothing more to learn from our fleece-covered friends. Here's a list of things we can learn from puppets....
1. Nobody cares about arm rods
Hand-Puppets can't move their arms on their own. They need a little help from the puppeteer by way of wire rods sticking out of their wrists. If you were a puppet, you'd probably be very self-conscious about those rods, assuming everybody is staring at them. But the truth is, if you're real and genuine enough, nobody cares about your weaknesses.
2. Listening makes you more alive
Anybody can make a puppet talk, but the real test of a puppeteer is what they do with the puppet when it's not talking. Nothing makes a puppet looks more lifeless than when it stops doing stuff once it's done talking. But when a puppet looks like it's really listening to someone else, that's when it really feels alive.
3. Communication requires your whole self
Flapping a puppets jaw up and dawn while it talks isn't enough, you have to project your voice through the puppet - move the puppet's entire body and head to make it feel like the voice is coming from somewhere deep inside.
4. Status is a construct
Whenever a puppet is standing next to a fully grown person, the puppet is obviously much shorter. But if you look a little longer you'll realize that the puppet is still nowhere near as low as it should be if it's standing on the ground.
5. There's always more below the surface
Puppet sets are built on stilts so that the puppeteers can stand up and perform. What looks like eye-level to a puppet is actually 10 feet off the ground. They just don't seem to notice what's going on down there.