VDAY SPECIAL: REFLECTION ON PIXAR’S ANIMATION MOVIE ‘SOUL’
If you watched the movie ‘Soul’, you will know it as an animation that explores the meaning of life and its purpose. ‘Soul’, to me, is probably one of the most meaningful animation movies made. It was a timely film that was released during the pandemic. Not only was the storyline light-heartedly delightful, the animation also serves as a critical reminder to us to enjoy the journey of life.
If you have not watched the movie, I strongly suggest watching it for yourself first before some spoilers are revealed below!
Inside the Zone
As creatives, athletics and workaholics, we all have own inner world, the zone, where we experience a flow in thinking while creating, training or working. This zone is the space between spirituality and reality that allows us to work productively.
In the animation, Joe, being the Jazz lover he is, has absolutely no problem getting into the zone. His tenacity allowed him to successfully land a long-awaited jazz gig opportunity, literally coming back from the dead to fight for it.
“So...that was it?” The sense of euphoria that initially accompanied the landing of the gig was short-lived. Deeply perplexed, he confessed his inner disappointment to the leader of the band. She then likened Joe to the young fish in the following story:
“I heard this story about a fish. He swims up to an older fish and says: “I’m trying to find this thing they call the ocean.”
“The ocean?” the older fish says, “that’s what you’re in right now.”
“This”, says the young fish, “this is water. What I want is the ocean!”
Just like the young fish, Joe had a narrow perception of his own achievements and was constantly seeking the next 'best thing’. Just like Joe, some of us fail to revel in the moment and appreciate how far we’ve come because we keep fixating on our how far away our end goals are.
“Lost souls are not that different from those in the zone. The zone is enjoyable but when that joy becomes an obsession, it becomes disconnected from life.” - Moonwind
Twist of Events
Soul 22, Joe’s companion, ironically found her spark on planet Earth as she slowly uncovered her human senses, while interacting with people and enjoying the simplest action of brisk walking. However, all of these experiences were brushed aside and nonchalantly described by Joe as simply mundane daily routines. Because of Joe, Soul 22 felt that her ’spark’ before was unreal because she had no ‘real’ purpose and saw herself as being fundamentally flawed.
How does the movie relate to us?
Like the characters in Soul, we have always been expected to have a singular purpose and to attain this purpose in order to be truly happy.
Dancers might have a singular goal of joining battles or being part of a studio dance recital, or even to teach their own solo open dance class. However, in the process of attaining these goals, more often than not, dancers will stray off the beaten path and will start to feel stagnant or even lost.
Perhaps the longing for more, to not fall short behind, is something we can all relate to. While having dreams give us hope for the future, it is not the only source of life’s happiness.
Here are 3 takeaways that we could apply with regards to the pursuits of our hearts’ desires.
1. Stop comparing ourselves negatively to others
Having goals are great. In fact at Legacy, we advocate setting personal goals for the year. Read: Importance of Setting New Year Resolutions. However, much dissatisfaction will arise when we think that happiness could only be attained after achieving a better version of the self.
It helps to acknowledge our own deepest dissatisfaction for more. We should not compare others’ progress to our own rate of personal growth. Instead, we should genuinely congratulate and celebrate others’ progress.
2. Understand our own identities
“A Spark isn’t a Soul’s purpose.”
“Where did you get the idea that a spark was the purpose of a soul?” Jerry, one of the soul counselors asked Joe. Maybe just like Joe, many of us had likened a spark to the main purpose of living when in fact a spark could be ignited by many different factors.
Pause to discover what we want for ourselves as dancers but remember we have other identities as well; being a filial daughter or a son, a nurturing father or a mother, a doting sister or a brother, a wife or husband and being a sincere friend as well. All these make up your person, too. How have you been doing in these areas of your life?
3. Give it time!
In a busy society that prioritises efficiency, time often does not seem to be on our side. There will be some days where we feel that every step forward we take seems to be 5 steps backwards…
However, instead of obsessing over figuring everything out in a limited time frame, get back to the core of what our soul needs - the joy of discovering, relating and appreciating.
May Valentines' Day this year remind us to fall in love with dance again, both the good and bad times — the struggle of catching sequences, understanding the way our bodies move, and learning to execute the movements in a manner that allows us to express freely.
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Here are our latest TLE (The Legacy Experience) video shoot projects curated with the objective of raising awareness of mental health, do support us in this cause by watching, liking and sharing our content ❤️
A class ‘As One’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkeTlTpgwhM&ab_channel=LegacyDanceCo
B class ‘Overcome’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlDKWjJ8oc&ab_channel=LegacyDanceCo.
C & D class ‘Solace’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WumB7UQkHQU&ab_channel=LegacyDanceCo.