Hi friends,
This week I’d like to share a few life lessons from the Disney movie SOUL. The movie has got layers and layers of meaning that we could draw from, however I would like to share a few soul touching parts for me! 😊
The story begins with a music teacher Joe Gardner teaching his bored students’ music. He himself is not very thrilled with his job. His dream has always been to play Jazz for a living. As the movie proceeds, we see how he finally gets an opportunity for a gig with a jazz musician Dorothea Williams at the Half-note Club. He is extremely excited at finally being able to live his dream…. Unfortunately, he slips into a manhole and thus falls into a coma. His disembodied soul finds himself in a queue to the ‘Great Beyond.’ Terrified of dying, he runs in the opposite direction exclaiming that he absolutely couldn’t die without playing jazz with Dorothea and tries desperately to reach back to earth so that he could audition for his part and thus land the job he has been waiting for his whole life.
He then reaches the ‘Great Before’ where he becomes part of a mentorship program where mentors help mentees find their spark to enable them to be ready for earth. Joe is assigned Number 22; an impossible candidate who is so cynical after having been rejected by great mentors such as Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Muhammad Ali, Carl Jung and the like. Together Joe & 22 try different passions like art, photography, cooking, music, archery etc in the Hall of Everything but nothing appeals to 22. Finally, they reach earth via “the ZONE” with the help of Moonwind (a spiritual sign twirler) who helps locate Joe’s body and helps in sending Joe back to earth. The only problem being that Joe accidentally enters the therapy cat’s body and 22 into Joe’s body. Thus begins an interesting journey during which 22 finds her spark enjoying the little things in life. Having discovered the real joy of living, 22 really doesn’t want to leave Joe’s body. Angrily Joe tells 22 that the reason 22 got her badge complete was not because she had found her purpose but because she was living through Joe’s body. A broken 22 throws him her completed badge and leaves. Using her badge Joe returns to the earth. Despite his jazz show becoming a success, Joe still feels a deep vacuum in his heart. Inspired by the items that 22 had collected while on earth, Joe plays the piano and enters the Zone with the intent of returning 22’s badge. He finds her but discovers she has become a lost soul, obsessed with the idea that she has no purpose. Joe chases her down and shows her a helicopter seed she had collected to remind her of her time on Earth. Joe’s actions restore 22 to normal; he returns her badge and accompanies her for as long as he can on her journey down to Earth. As Joe prepares to enter the Great Beyond, he is offered another chance at life in return for finally inspiring 22 to live. The next morning, Joe returns to his body on Earth, committed to living life fully.
Life lessons:
1)Our spark- (that which brightens us and gives us the joy or thrill in life) need not really be our soul’s purpose– We see that all his life Joe lived an unsatisfied life not realizing how blessed he really was as he was always chasing his unfulfilled dream of becoming a professional jazz player. Music may be what brought him excitement in his life but that was not the sole point of his existence. Similarly, in our life too there may be many things that excite us- our passions that bring us to life, but we must realize that just chasing those moments will never bring us real joy in life. A truly happy person is one who enjoys the realities of life with its ups and downs and considers it a bonus when they get opportunities to do what they really love to do. In other words “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans!”- John Lennon
2) It is the many small moments altogether that make up our life – The little objects that 22 had collected during her short time on the earth- a half-eaten bagel, a lollipop from the barber shop, a spool of thread from Joe’s mother, a stub of a subway ticket and a helicopter seed brings back to mind Joe’s mind the beautiful moments that they had together and the importance of just living in the moment and savoring every bit of it. 22 , while occupying Joe’s body simply loved the wind brushing against his clothes and hair, relished every bit of the pizza, appreciated Connie trying her best not to give up playing the trombone, enjoyed listening to the life story of Dez the barber. 22 got her spark from enjoying the tiniest things around her – which was the opposite of Joe who was so busy chasing his jazz dream that he was ignorant of his many everyday reasons to smile. “Every moment in our lives is a miracle we should enjoy instead of ignoring.”- Yoko Ono
Let me conclude this week’s post with this quote reminding us to savor every moment of our life because that’s what life really is all about!
Nugget of Life – “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.”- Omar Khayyam
Have a wonderful week!
Cheers,
Sparky laurie
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