Soul, A Wonderful Story Told From The Soul
” I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life, but I do know that I’m going to live every minute of it .” The latest Pixar production this time has gone much further than Inside Out or Coco. While the latter invited us to look within to understand what emotions are or how to manage them, Soul , on the other hand, takes an opposite journey.
In this film we look outside to discover what makes our soul vibrate. We are invited to take a journey that navigates between the metaphysical, the spiritual and the psychological to find out what we are passionate about and make it our destiny in this world that is sometimes too ephemeral.
Pete Docter, director of this wonderful creation, points out that although it may seem that the film’s narrative is more aimed at adults, in reality it is not. After all, children are still the most skilled at deciphering and processing a large part of the messages that are part of this type of audiovisual adventure.
It is they who, far from the filter of logic and social conditioning, are in time to make their lives their passion, who must understand that the greatest purpose of our existence is none other than to love life in all its facets.
Soul: beyond looking for your “spark” is knowing how to enjoy life
Soul begins by introducing us to the life of Joe Gardner. This high school music teacher is a frustrated pianist who wants above all else to pursue a professional jazz career. After auditioning to be part of a quartet alongside the great Dorothea Williams, her life drastically changes. Something happens that leaves you suspended in a new state.
Joe detaches himself from his body to suddenly become a soul, that ethereal entity that is forced to take an epic, deep and transformative journey. On this journey, you will witness the threshold of the Beyond and also the Great Before. A scene of lilac hues inhabited by smiling souls who are about to be born and fall to planet Earth …
Why are we in this world? A question that is already inscribed in our souls
Joe Gardner has only one purpose throughout the film: to get back into his body so he can play with the jazz quartet . That idea is what leads him to escape from the Beyond to arrive, in a casual and almost bizarre way, to become a mentor to a young soul.
His mission could not be more challenging: to make that young entity find his “spark”, that channel and that passion that will apparently give him a path and a destiny on Earth.
It is important to note that the figure of the soul is, in reality, the true protagonist of this production. It is that pure, radiant entity of absolute goodness that receives before reaching the infantile body a series of initiatory steps that will imprint on it its personality and also its spark. These two dimensions are, apparently, two essential keys for unborn souls to be born.
The state of flow and spirituality
Much of Soul stands under a metaphysical and even spiritual perspective. However, neither of these two things detract from the message; moreover, they intensify it and give it greater meaning. Joe Gardner is forced almost to make that extraterrestrial and supernatural trip in order to have a greater vision of what his life has been up to now.
Only when it is transformed into a soul does it reach that psychological revelation from which to understand the meaning of life. It is also important to highlight the importance of flow experiences and those states of absolute grace, of which the psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi already spoke to us in his day.
They are those moments in which the person is so immersed in the activity that they carry out that our whole world disappears and there is only delight, concentration … And why not, the authentic connection with our soul. Experiences like music or even enjoying a pizza are situations in which to reach that revealing climax.
The lost souls, people who have lost their spark
One of the most interesting concepts in Soul is without a doubt the “lost souls”. With this idea, the directors and creators of Pixar invite us to reflect on how the human being ends up becoming a sad spectrum devoid of life, drive and passion.
When we forget, neglect or do not clarify our passions and purposes, we fall into that kind of dark sadness in which a bad mood appears. Almost without realizing it, we become specters of ourselves, beings gripped by fear, anxiety and grief.
Soul , the most important thing is to love life
For much of the film, we move along with Joe Gardner and the young soul of whom he mentors, assuming that there is no greater goal in our existence than to clarify what our spark is. Indeed, this is also what they instill in all of us very early on. Finding out what we like to make it our way of existence is a persistent goal.
This is reminded, for example, by Gardner’s mother: he must settle down, stay with a stable job and be able to do so, earn a living. Now, at a certain moment, when our protagonist finally reaches that goal, an unexpected void arises. “I’ve done it… now what?”
That is the true message of Soul and the one that should be imprinted on our soul. Finding our spark is not the true goal, the most important thing is to love life in all its facets and for this we just have to look around us. Listening, feeling, looking, being surprised, learning and enjoying simple things is the true secret of happiness.
To conclude, Soul is undoubtedly one of the most profound, evocative and thoughtful productions of recent years. It is important to highlight its visual quality, the magic of the music and that for the first time, the entire cast of its characters is black. This is a piece of undoubted beauty that is worth discovering and seeing more than once.
