Pixar’s Soul is the perfect movie to close out 2020
Tags: Disney Plus, Disney, Pixar, Coronavirus, Covid-19

This was the year of introspection, for many including myself, as we were pulled from our daily routines by COVID-19 and forced to have a fresh perspective on life. To add to this, my recent recurrence of metastatic testicular cancer has me grappling with the ever important questions: “What is my purpose?” and “What will my impact be on the world?”. I think these feelings are normal and very stereotypical for anyone who has gone through life changing events, or millennials like myself who so desperately dedicate their life to “following their passion”. Soul hits on things like life & death, passion vs purpose, obsession/addictions, and even concepts from Buddhism, Taoism, and other non-religious belief systems. This film is a polite, existential slap in the face to anyone who is trying to figure out how they want their life to look once things return to “normal” post-pandemic.

Before you read further, I will preface that this is not an official movie review, but more of a personal reflection on how I perceived the philosophical messages in the movie. That being said, there will be some spoilers.

The biggest and most impactful takeaway from the movie is the message that life’s “spark” is simply the enjoyment of being alive. When you are lucky enough to find your passion, or at least something that you love, it is often mistakenly believed that pursuing and fulfilling that is the only thing that will lead to your happiness and satisfaction in life. This belief can be a double edged sword, and wind up an endless and never ending chase for more. In Soul, the main character refuses to go to the great beyond after dying because he thinks he never “got his moment” and has to continue living to fulfill his passion in music. He ultimately gets his life back and lives out the moment he was longing for all along, only to find out that it did not give him the satisfaction he was expecting. This for me was a moment of realization. I’ve had these expectations and desires lately to “grab life by the horns” and completely change things so as not to go back to how things were before COVID and my diagnosis. I’ve set new goals for myself and made new dreams to chase.. very cliche I know.

I need to change my mindset, not my actions.

By almost cosmic coincidence, my wife was giving me the same advice as this film the day before we watched it. I need change my mindset, not my actions. I need to stop looking for fulfillment in my career, in travel, exercise, or meditation, and I need to learn to just love the each day and moment in life and stop chasing the idea of “who I want to be”. Being hard headed, I didn’t really get it until a kids movie spelled it out for me (haha sorry babe). It finally clicked for me though, I need to slow down and love the moments of nothingness, sitting with my family and watching time go by instead of rushing to the next thing on my list of ways to become a better me. Even if somehow I one day do all the things I think I’m meant to do and fulfill my passion, I will have missed out on the little pieces of life that make it so wonderful. So I’m throwing out my list. I’m not going to stop improving or doing my passion in life, but I’m going to change my mindset away from those things being my purpose. From a Buddhism perspective, chasing my “meaning/purpose/passion” causes my own suffering. I can only break this suffering by giving up that desire/craving. So by finding joy in living itself, I don’t give the power of happiness to something I have to constantly chase.