What Weighs on Our Choices?
While everyone is talking about Barbie, I'm going against the current and talking to you about "Elemental," a Disney and Pixar film that was released some time ago. The cinema offered the possibility to watch it in 4DX: a completely immersive experience with water and air sprays, scents, sound effects, and a "possessed" seat (it felt like being on a roller coaster! Those who listen to me on #coachforbreakfast know how much I LOVE roller coasters... I can't even handle the ones for small children calmly!).
The story is heartwarming and revolves around friendship, emigration, differences, racism, prejudice, love, family, and self-realization. All of this takes place in the world of elements: earth, fire, water, and air. Fire remains on the outskirts of this magical and colorful world. Despite everything it can do (like transforming when in contact with minerals and shaping various materials), it can be very dangerous for the other elements. The protagonists are Ember and Wide: she is the fire element, creative, tenacious, with moments of strong anger and outbursts that burn everything around her, while he is water, gentle, altruistic, obedient in following the rules, and very inclined to express and experience intense emotions and feelings; he cries and gets emotional a lot, and I really liked this aspect.
At a certain point in the film, Ember explains to her friend all the difficulties and duties of her daily life, the anxiety of not meeting everyone's expectations. As she speaks, she starts to disappear, her flame weakens and becomes smaller. It wasn't the only moment that moved me. Ember is an artist; being fire, she can shape sand into wonderful glass sculptures. But it's a talent that remains there, used only occasionally to repair other objects. Duty comes first, which means being a good daughter and a good manager; soon she'll be the one running the family shop, while there's no room for pleasure.
These days, I'm working on this flame that burns in each of us, suffocated by "musts," "wills," other people's expectations, and our own expectations.
There are milestones to achieve: success, followers, listeners, being an example for a circle of friends, children, partners, and family. There are the loops of daily life, the killer thoughts, the long lists of things to do. There are the "I can'ts": can't sleep, can't eat, can't stay here, can't disconnect. There's all the effort to keep that flame alive: will it last? Is it really worth it? Should I quit or keep going?
There are duties and responsibilities that are burdens.
There are duties and responsibilities we choose, freely and intentionally. However, they sometimes come with exhausting aspects we hadn't taken into account. With motherhood, for example, we also carry the burden of guilt: too present/too absent, too smothering/not nurturing enough, too "Montessori"/not Montessori enough, and so on. With the work we do, the one we love so much and that gives us emotions and satisfaction, we take on an individual tax ID, perhaps deadlines and organization that do not fit well with the rest of our lives.
To understand who she wants to be, Ember needs to realize the burdens she carries on her shoulders.
The term "choice" refers to the act or process of selecting one among several available options. When we choose, we consciously decide to opt for a specific alternative or action over other possibilities.
What do you feel as a burden? What do you feel weighs on your shoulders and creates discomfort?
The ending was tender, romantic, and positive, and it moved me. I cry, always, with Disney movies. Tell me I'm not the only one :D
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