The Wit and Wisdom of Dr. Seuss’ I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew

I recently found an old copy of Dr. Seuss’ I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew and read it to H. She loved the pictures and the sing-songy rhythm. I was once again blown away by the author’s ability to write a superbly entertaining book for children with a message that rings so true for adults.

The protagonist begins to have problems after he stubs his toe on a rock in the Valley of Vung where he lives. Then he is attacked from behind and is enticed by a creature who tells him he is off to “Solla Sollew, on the banks of the beautiful River Wahoo, where they never have troubles at least very few.” On his journey to get to Solla Sollew, the protagonist has to face bad weather, sleeplessness, threats of violence, horrible traffic among other quandaries. When he gets to Solla Sollew, (SPOILER ALERT) it turns out that the only problem is a major one. There is a Key-Slapping Slippard that lives in the keyhole to the city and won’t let anyone enter. The protagonist decides to go back to face his original problems, this time with a bat in hand.

There’s a great line in the book that anyone who has worked with a boss or coworker who has stolen their ideas or pretended to be a “team player” can relate to: “This is called teamwork. I furnish the brains. You furnish the muscles, the aches and the pains.” He is deserted by a supposed ally and lied to by a charlatan. How many of us haven’t faced some of the challenges (albeit in less of a Seussian-way) at some time in our lives?

As someone who tends to go through periods of anxiety, I sometimes find myself fearing the unknown and wanting to avoid conflict. I’m not alone here. We as a society are always looking for a better, happier, easier existence through pills, vitamins, wine, the latest cure-alls, dark chocolate, self-help books and of course, retail therapy (I personally love this last one.) As Seuss so slyly points out, there will always be speed bumps on the road of life. No matter how much we’d like to, we can’t escape our troubles nor always anticipate they are coming. We must learn how to conquer our fears with a metaphorical bat in the forms of:

• Exercise and meditation;

• the help of our friends and family;

• patience and courage;

• taking action to change a bad situation and/or enter a new, but untested one;

and hopefully, do so even in trying times, with a sense of humor and with confidence in our own abilities to handle whatever crap is thrown our way.