Elmo Asked The World Responded and Now We All Need Elmo-tional Support. All Elmo needed to do was ask one simple question “Elmo is checking in! How is everybody doing?” and the world responded by answering him. Actually people apparently really needed someone to ask that question, because almost 100 thousand people responded.
We linked the Instagram account which still had some major interaction.
Cookie Moster – Me here to talk it out whenever you want. Me will also supply cookies.
Oscar the Grouch – I’m not great at listening to others share their big feelings, but my worm Slimey is. You should talk with him if you ever need to chat.
Buffalo Wild Wings – Brutal, but we got BOGO wing deals. Every Tuesday and Thursday so…
Oreo Cookies – Ran Out of Milk, Do the Math!
Rachel Ziegler joined in, saying she was “resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I am kinda sad”.
“Elmo I’m suffering from existential dread over here,” a user wrote. Another wrote “I have type 1 diabetes, Elmo”
“Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep. Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come,” another user wrote. “Every single day and every single week for life.”
In a later post, Elmo responded to everyone with “Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.” and the world responded again! Even getting a response from The President of the United States Joe Biden, “Our friend Elmo is right: We have to be there for each other.”
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We wanted to stop and think about it before we personally responded to Elmo. That is such a loaded question “How am I doing?” and why would I answer that to a red fuzzy muppet puppet.
Well simple really, Elmo has been in our lives since we were small children, and we trust Elmo. Elmo is pure, even with flaws, he is the innocence of childhood. Always checking in with us, always learning with us. Maybe we just needed someone like Elmo to ask us a simple “How ya doing?” for it to awaken something in us all.
We need to be able to trust someone with our emotional baggage, someone who we know won’t tell everyone else. As adults, we need someone we can tell if we are sad or happy if we are going through something. Elmo is our personal therapist without even knowing it because, again, he has always been here for us.
How are we doing?:
“So Elmo, “How are we doing?” First, thank you for asking, secondly “How are YOU doing?” We are doing the best we can in the world we live in right now. We live in the world’s playground and some days can be tough.
The Most Magical Place on Earth sometimes loses its magic but then we recapture the magic in ourselves and keep pushing on. Times are tough on a lot of people, and we take their burdens upon ourselves and add their weight to our weight and sometimes it is too heavy.
At the very least we do count every blessing we have ever gotten in our lives and continue on. But, it is muppets like you asking how we are doing that make life a beautiful happy place that even though we may be ‘going through it’ we know there is a people around us to help us, and we are there for them!”
My biggest concern, and what made me stop and say “WTH is wrong with me?” was the visual that came to me in the middle of the night last night…
I pictured Elmo, his red fuzz sticking out of his pajamas, lying in bed. Mobile phone in his hand, reading the responses. Poor Elmo, has a look of sheer terror on his face, deadpans to the camera, and says “What have I done?” as he digests all the things people laid at his feet.
A Reddit user responded with “Social Media is the kind of schizophrenic monster that simultaneously tries to warn that everyone isn’t okay, while also being a large part of the reason everyone isn’t okay.” which struck home with us. Social Media can be the source of all these mental health issues, while at the same time helping to deal with the issues at hand.
Then the adults from Sesame Street Workshop stepped in and brought us all back to reality – Thank you, Elmo, for checking in with a reminder for us to pause and take a mindful moment to focus on how we’re feeling. For #EmotionalWellbeing resources and more, visit @SesameWorkshop: http://sesame.org/mentalhealth
