I just watched the animated film, Inside Out again. If you haven’t seen it, and you plan to watch it, stop right here before I spoil it for you.
Still reading? Okay. So that means you know what the visual to the left means. And I can say a bit more about it.
I absolutely LOVE the movie’s message that many of our warm + wonderful connections to people come from a place of darkness, fear, or sadness. Those moments when we’re feeling low and someone offers us a hug, makes us laugh, or gives us any other kind of l’il pinprick of light in the darkness — WOW … those moments are everything.
Today’s note from me is short. It is simply this: let’s all remember that sadness and celebration are two sides of the same coin.
When we’re sad and we call a friend and that friend’s voice is like honey, there’s joy there, right? When someone we know is grieving and we can sit with her, holding her hand, laughing over beautiful memories of the person who died, there is a simple kind of joy there, too. Right? When we extend ourselves to be with someone who is sad, we feel alive and human in the best possible of ways. It connects us to one another in deep and meaningful ways.
In the movie, when Sadness touched a memory, there was a glow. Just like when Joy touched a memory. Let’s keep an eye out for that subtle, but palpable glow in our own lives.
If you don’t know my own story about celebrating in the dark, you can see the video on the website homepage. (This is the story of where “pinpricks of light” came from.)
Yours on both sides of the coin,
Sherry
P.S. I’d love to hear our own experience of the sadness/celebration coin. Does this resonate with you? Or does it make you … er, Angry? (Insert picture of Anger from the movie here.) Got a story to share? Please comment below if you’re on the blog. Or, email me. I’d love to hear.
Note: All “Inside Out” images are copyright Pixar/Disney Studios.