I’ve always been a massive Muppets fan, from their original films through to one of my favourite films of all time, The Muppet Christmas Carol. It’s a family tradition and you all know how much I love Christmas. Picture my joy then when the news was released that this week there would be a new, original, episode of The Muppet Show released on Disney+.
Watching it gave me such joy. Miss Piggy is, after all my hero, but I started to try to think why? Why do The Muppets bring me such joy? What is it about them and their interactions that really speaks to me? Especially as I’ve been writing about the role of women in the work place recently, what is it about how Miss Piggy functions that I admire and wish I could channel more? Then I found this quote below and it felt so genuine to me.
When thinking about their traits more, I couldn’t help but come up with a fairly substantial list that made me want to be ‘more Muppet’ and I thought that in honour of their new moment in the sun I would share the list with you in case you want to join me on a Muppet adventure.
Self advocacy
I don’t care what you think of me unless you think I’m awesome. In which case, you are right
As a female scientist there have been more times than I can count when I wish I’d had the courage to speak up, be seen, and be heard. In fact this is one of my themes and aspirations to be braver about in 2026. Miss Piggy is never afraid to stand up and be counted. She knows her value, and she knows what she brings to the table. More than that she’s not afraid to let others know it and to hold them to account when they under value or under estimate her.
We are often trained that it isn’t a good look to be too confident, or come across as too challenging. That it is better to fit in then to stand out, and that standing out will only cause us trouble. Miss Piggy stands out proudly and isn’t afraid of the consequences of making her presence known. I wish that I too could hold my space without being worried about how others see me for doing so, and I too should maybe care a little less what others think of me.
Boundaries
One of my favourite parts of The Muppet Christmas Carol is when Kermit negotiates for Christmas Day off work:
Mr Cratchit (Kermit): Mr Scrooge it appears to be closing time.
Mr Scrooge: Very well. I’ll see you at 8.00 tomorrow morning.
Kermit: Tomorrow’s Christmas.
Mr Scrooge: 8.30 then.
Kermit: If you please Sir. Half an hour off hardly seems customary for Christmas Day.
Mr Scrooge: How much time off is customary Mr Cratchit?
Kermit: Uh. Why. Um. The whole day.
Mr Scrooge: The whole day! – The entire day?
Kermit: If you please Mr Scrooge, why open the office tomorrow? Other businesses will be closed. You’ll have no one to do business with. It’ll waste a lot of expensive coal for the fire.
Mr Scrooge: It’s a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every December the 25th. But as I seem to be the only person around who knows that… Take the day off.
There are moments like this time and time again in The Muppets, be they in the movies or on the small screen. Moments where they gently but firmly set boundaries. Boundaries on good behavior. Boundaries for each other. Boundaries linked to kindness, both to themselves and others. Kermit holds a quiet confidence that permits him to set boundaries that protects both himself and others, without making drama or conflict out of the act. As someone who struggles to say no, and protect her well being on occasion I admire this so much.
Loyalty
The Muppets are a family. They have disagreements. They consist of very different personalities. Yet they love each other unconditionally, and always turn up for each other when it matters. Their love and loyalty isn’t transactional. It’s not performative. It’s the kind of loyalty I look for in those people who are my ride or dies. The ones who would take a call from you at 3 in the morning, just because you need to make it.
They have the kind of loyalty to each other in a work space that allows them to disagree, to argue about the order of the set list, but also lets them arrive at a moment where they all pull together for the absolute best they can achieve as a group, which is always better than any of them could achieve alone. I count myself so lucky to have an IPC team where I feel like we are always there for the finale together.
Respect without hierarchy
I don’t do hierarchy, I don’t do respect just for the sake of it. For The Muppets, Statler and Waldorf are the epitome of that approach, they are there to remind people that there is always a reason to laugh at ourselves, and not to get too caught up in position or reputation.
Waldorf: Well, you gotta give them credit
Statler: Why’s that?
Waldorf: Well, they’re gonna keep on doing it till they get it right
Although The Muppets have big personalities, and a leader in Kermit, that leadership is quiet and is not based on titles. It’s based on respect for how he handles situations and the relationship capital he has built. Miss Piggy may run wild, but always pulls back just in time because of her respect and love for him. Mr Girlymicro is very much a Kermit like personality, and it’s one of the many reasons why being married to him makes me a better person. He knows when to call me on my shit, and I respect him enough to hear it.
Living in the moment
I’m a planner. I have a ten year plan. I have a plan for the next 10 minutes. All of that planning can mean that I lose sight of the now. I can struggle to ever truly be in the moment. I love the fact that no matter the chaos that features in a Muppet episode, they can come together in the moment to experience the true joy of achieving a goal or being in each others company. They are aware of the challenges that the future holds, but are able to still live in the moment and enjoy the now. Be that for a musical number, or to cheer each other on. It is so easy to let the now pass whilst aiming for a better future, when really there is a lot to be said for enjoying the moment that you are in.
Appreciation of the good things
Living in the moment brings me onto appreciating the good things. One of my very early experiences as the UK Ambassador for the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America was to attend a conference held in, of all places, the Contemporary Hotel at Disney World in Florida. I’d never been to Disney before. In fact I’d never considered going, but I was paid to go and that meant I could also take Mr Girlymicro, and Mel (my science work wife).
It happened to be Star Wars weekend, and I had a whole day where I could explore and make memories with people who mean a lot to me. In those days a mock up of The Muppet Theatre was there, along with The Muppet courtyard. The three of us made some wonderful memories, and had so much fun. That ride is no longer there, and there has not been another conference held there. If I hadn’t decided to try something I’d never done before I would never have become the Disney fan I am today. If I hadn’t been on that ride and to that place, I would never have had the opportunity, as I’ve not been back to Florida and The Muppet Theatre closed last year. The Muppets embrace all there is in life, and sometimes I have to remind myself to do the same.
Give permission to feel
One of the other things that I love about The Muppets is that they express all of the emotions. Miss Piggy expresses both love and rage. Kermit exhibits leadership and frustration. Fozzy expresses bravery and self doubt. None of them are perfect, nor do they try to be. They have songs about joy, but they also have songs about heartbreak and sorrow, and don’t try to hide from either. They travel the gamut of human emotions and don’t try to claim that one is more valuable than another. I think sometimes it is important to be reminded that it is OK to not be OK. We can’t have it together all the time. Occasionally it is alright to sit on your lily pad in a state of ennui, as long as you also know that at some point you have to get up, dust yourself off, and get back in the fight.
Embrace complexity
Born out of that acceptance that all emotions matter, or maybe because of it, is the fact that The Muppets accept and demonstrate complexity. Miss Piggy is a strong independent pig who still loves a frog with all of her heart. Kermit has a quiet confidence that emanates, but is still easily overwhelmed and loses that central calm. They show that none of us is just one thing, nor should we aim to be.
I may be the person who has published >40 scientific papers, but I’m also the person who got locked in her own bedroom recently as she couldn’t get the door nob to turn. Competence in one area does not equal competence in another. I can be someone who loves reading about the history of the Silk Road, and also someone who enjoys watching Below Decks or Love is Blind. No person is all good, or all bad, and this is especially important to remember in a leadership context. There may be people that we don’t understand how they think, or their processes, but that doesn’t make them bad it people, it just makes them different, and we should embrace that difference as variety makes the whole better.
Fearless in response to challenge
Every Muppet episode or film is always centred around challenge, there would probably not be much plot otherwise. The challenge is often insurmountable, or at least incredibly intimidating. There’s a reason they will all need to come together to overcome it. The amazing thing, to me, is that they never waste a lot of time bemoaning the challenge, they just get on with it. They don’t ever really consider what will happen if they don’t succeed. They don’t waste energy on fear or overwhelm. As someone who wastes a LOT of energy in catastrophising, and in fearing failure, I really do think this is an area where I need to be more Muppet. They have such faith in each other to carry them through, even when they lose faith in themselves. Being a little more task rather than ‘what if’ focused would certainly help me.
Refuse to be defined by others
One of the reasons The Muppets weather any storm is that they know who they are and don’t let others define them. It is so easy to be a passive passenger in our own lives. Humanity works based on silo’s and putting each other in boxes, and it is sometimes easy to go along with those definitions that used by others for us. One of the things this blog has gifted me, is that I feel much more comfortable defining myself and my own narrative than I did for the first decade of my career. Finding your voice may not be the easiest process, but it one that is worth investing in as early as you can. Define yourself so that others have a harder time doing so on your behalf.
Defy convention
When we let others define us, we also let them limit us. The Muppets defy convention. They say that you can be anything you want to be. The Muppet Babies encourages you to dream. The Muppet Christmas Carol encourages you to be kind and to value things outside of the conventional, and a Muppet Treasure Island tells you it’s OK to be a pirate. All joking aside, Miss Piggy shows that ambition is not a dirty word. Why not dream of being a pop star? Why not aim to win an Academy Award? Why not dream bigger than we’ve been told we are allowed, rather than believing being told to think small. Aspirations are not a bad thing. Miss Piggy works hard towards her dreams, even if they never fully happen. It shows us that it is the journey rather than the gateway or the destination that is most important. Judging ourselves on what we learn rather than attaining tick boxes is something that we could all benefit from embracing.
Anyone can be a scientist
Finally, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t mention how much joy Bunsen and Beaker bring me. No, I don’t ever want to work in their lab. No, I’m not sure they comply with any health and safety guidance ever written. They do however completely change how people normally see scientists. They are not distant. They are not ‘other’, other than being puppets. They have joy in their work. Things go wrong, regularly, and yet they are always there the next week trying something new. They embody the joy of exploration, well at least Bunsen does, I think Beaker probably needs some time off to recover. In a world where science is either vilified or portrayed as being undertaken by people so intellectual we can’t envisage knowing them, The Muppets still being me joy by offering a grounded view of the joyful chaos that being a scientist can bring.
The truth of it all, even if we learn nothing else from them, is that The Muppets tell us that if you are doing what you love everything will find a way to being OK.
As for Miss Piggy, I salute you! Let me know how I can be as stylish as you!
All opinions in this blog are my own
Girlymicro 