The Wandering Soul – In Search of Life Sparks

“Soul” is an animated feature film produced by Pixar Animation Studios. The movie focuses on the meaning of life with “sparks” and “dreams.” But rather than emphasizing the notion of chasing your dreams and making them come true, it ultimately suggests that it is better to live in the present and appreciate the simple moments of life.

 

“Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves” said Rabindranath Tagore, a 20th century Bengali poet and philosopher. 

 

There is a popular, though not scientific notion that the human soul weighs 21 grams.  So if the soul exists, what happens to it when we pass away and it leaves our body? 

 

The main character of the movie is Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Fox), a dream chaser who is passionate about music. As a high school music teacher, all he really wants is to be able to play piano in a real jazz band, but when his opportunity finally comes along, he accidentally falls down a man hole on his way home from rehearsal.   He then finds his soul on its way to the ‘Great Beyond’, but desperate to return to his old life on Earth, he manages to escape to another realm, the ‘Great Before’.

 

Here he meets a ‘lost soul’, named 22 (voiced by Tina Fey).  Since 22 cannot find the ‘spark’ for her life – her passion or purpose – she is deemed unqualified to enter into the real world, and instead remains wandering around in the realm of the ‘Great Before’ being unsuccessfully mentored by some of the greatest minds and talents of history.  Joe ends up being assigned as her teacher, to help 22 her find her spark. 

 

When the two souls finally manage to get back to Earth, 22 accidentally enters Joe’s body and begins to experience his life, but through her eyes. During her earthly journey, she finds her life spark, which just turns out to be a passion for the simple things in daily life – the soft fragrance after a bath, the moment of chewing a slice of delicious pizza, the fresh feeling after a haircut, the echo of a love song in the subway, the petals that fall under the breeze. 

 

When you fall in love with life, you can find your true spark. Time passes quickly, so when you look back on the story of your life, are there some irreplaceable moments?

 

Joe has pursued his jazz dream all his life, and after negotiating the twists and turns of his strange after-life journey, he finally manages to reunite his soul with his physical body and has an opportunity to perform in the jazz band.  The show is a great success, but just when he thinks that his life will be extraordinary and fulfilling from then on, the people in the band tell him: “We will do it again tomorrow, every day as usual.” 

 

Joe feels sad and disappointed, realizing that he will still be trapped in a cage of tedium and exhaustion even though he has achieved his life’s dream. He starts to reflect; can his life be defined by just a successful performance? He has an overwhelming feeling in his heart, before coming to understand that all the ‘sparks’ which 22 enjoyed, the simple good things in daily life, are the little flames that make life complete. Without them, life becomes meaningless.

 

There is fable that this movie reminds me of:

 

A young fish swims up to an older fish and says, “I’m trying to find this thing they call the ocean.” “The ocean?” says the older fish. “That’s what you’re in right now.” 

 

“This?” says the young fish. “This is water. What I want is the ocean.”

 

We are like fish living in water, and maybe the vast ocean is not that far away, maybe it is always right in front of us. In the process of chasing, staying, and retreating, we need to learn to appreciate the scenery along the way. These are the hidden treasures that nurture our soul by providing us comfort and lifting our faith when we feel knocked down in life again. With the rhythm of our hearts, we keep searching for the sparks in life while breathing in and out and wandering around in this big blue ocean of life.