Inside Out

The movie Inside Out is on my mind a lot these days. When it first came out (and Trevor and I spent at least 5 minutes sobbing, at various parts) I thought it was the worst kids movie ever. I remember saying, "Thanks Pixar, for animating one kid's downward spiral into clinical depression." I like my movies happy and carefree because life is hard enough, and Inside Out was not that. It made me think. And since I didn't want to think during a kid's movie, I kind of resented it, even though I could see it's brilliance.

I put the movie in the back of mind, and just sort of inadvertently came to terms with the theme of Inside Out, which I think I have deemed to be "sadness is the key to happiness". When Joy wouldn't let Riley feel sadness, when she pushed her aside and tried to hide her out of the way, Riley couldn't cope. Instead of feeling sadness she felt anger, disgust, and fear which are much more volatile emotions. But it was Sadness that softened her. When Sadness was finally given her place, Riley's heart melted, and her loved ones could see her pain and rally around her. Anger, disgust, and fear are lonely feelings. They are defensive in nature, and try to keep us from being hurt which pushes people away and further isolates us. Sadness, however, is a bat signal for a group hug, and it draws friends and family in. Only when we show our sadness, can we clearly find the path to the happiness that we once had, or are dreaming about.

My kids picked Inside Out to watch last night before bed. We are moving in less than a week, and they wanted to watch Inside Out, an animated fictional documentrary of the world's worst move. It shows how a move breaks hearts, and friendships, and almost destroy a family. It felt like an impossible movie choice, but I just smiled and said yes. Then I reminded myself that it's ok if my kids feel sadness watching this movie. It's even ok if they feel sadness when we shake their lives around like little snow globes and move them 500 miles away. Sadness is their friend, and when I see signs of it, I will come running. I will be there to cry with them, and support them, and help them find a path to the happiness that we are all dreaming about.

Thanks, Inside Out. I like you a lot.