If you haven't yet watched Soul on Disney Plus, watch it before reading on! I can confidently say this was the most unexpectedly moving and thought-provoking movie I have watched in the past year. This is saying something, because at first glance, I assumed it was just a kids' movie. When I kept hearing my friends and family raving about it, I figured it was probably at least a little more, and I was pleasantly surprised by it!
Soul tells the tale of Joe Gardener, a middle-aged man living in New York, hoping to make it big with his dream of being a jazz musician. He finds himself "settling" as a band teacher, just waiting for his real life to begin. As luck should have it, he nails an audition to become the piano player for one of the coolest jazz bands in the city. But just before he's about to see his greatest dream realized, it's too late. Joe falls into a man hole, dies, and finds himself in the Great Beyond. He screams, "I'm not going to die the very day I finally got my shot!" Instead of following the massive escalator that is moving up into a bright, warm light, Joe decides to fight this next step. Frantically, he runs in the opposite direction of everyone else, until he stumbles upon not the Great Beyond, but the Great Before. The Great Before is filled with adorable, new little souls who are preparing for their lives on earth. Joe meets Soul #22, who struggles with finding any sort of motivation to "be born," so to speak. I won't go too much into a summary of the rest of the plot, because, to be honest, most of that doesn't matter as much to me as the overarching themes do. When does life begin? What does it take to live a meaningful life of purpose and spark? Joe and #22 set out on a journey that allows them to begin to explore these questions.
After Joe and Soul #22 find a way to sneak back down to earth, Joe thinks he has a second chance. As he and #22 venture throughout his hometown, Joe slowly starts to think differently about his life before he died. At points, it has a very similar feel to "It's a Wonderful Life," where Joe finally clearly sees how he has made a difference in the lives of the people in his life. In particular, he sees how he has deeply impacted the lives of his music students, even though being a teacher wasn't what he felt called to be. Joe can't fathom how he has helped and inspired these students, because on some level, perhaps he didn't want to admit that anything besides his passion was worth spending so much time and energy on.
During one encounter in his "second life," Joe makes an off-hand comment about how his barber, Dez, is sure lucky to be living his dream every day. He asks Dez how long he knew that being a barber was his calling. Dez chuckles and shares about how he always wanted to be a veterinarian. He decided to give up this dream when his daughter got sick, and that dream became financially unfeasible. Dez put his family's needs above his own career goals, because his daughter was most important to him. Crushed for Dez's lost dream, Joe attempts to console him. Joe empathizes with Dez about how challenging it is to not be living the life he envisioned. But Dez doesn't react how Joe expects him to. Dez explains how he likes this new path he's on. As a barber, he gets to listen to others' problems and make them happy too. Regardless of what he wanted years ago, Dez is genuinely happy with his life now. Confused, Joe doesn't know how to reconcile this fact with his idea that following that one true purpose is the only way to be happy. Soul gracefully addresses how we often fall into lives we don't expect, also noting that there is a nobility to living those lives and to helping others right where we find ourselves.
There is an interesting and all-too-relatable plot that involves Joe struggling to gain his mother's approval in regards to Joe's love for music. His mother isn't impressed by Joe's dream to become a jazz musician, because she doesn't deem it a practical or reliable profession. Joe is intimidated at the thought of asking his mother for her help when he finally does get his "shot," which leads to some healing of their damaged relationship. But how many of us can relate to this idea of our parents not quite understanding or supporting our professional goals if they don't fit into some narrow mold of the idea of "success?"
I, like Joe and so many others I know, have battled with the same idea of feeling disappointed for not doing exactly what I expected to be doing professionally. When you think about it, our culture places an intense emphasis on the idea that we need to land our "dream jobs." From young ages we talk about how children are made for certain professions. High schoolers are taught how to identify their gifts and to figure out how those will be used for their careers as well. It's easy to dream of having a specific job, (and go to say 6+ years of schooling for it!) and then feel like a failure when life or necessity pulls us in different directions. For myself, I can happily say that I find myself more so in Dez's shoes now. Despite the fact that I am not working at my dream job, I enjoy what I do while knowing that I am impacting others around me. Granted, I'm not helping others in the way that I expected to, but where I'm at now is better for my mental health. Most importantly, I realize that my job is only one small part of me. It is not my purpose.
This leads me to discuss the concept of "lost souls." These souls are portrayed as normal people who lost themselves due to obsession. For instance, the movie portrays a hedge fund manager who lost himself, wanting to climb the corporate ladder and sacrifice everything else in the process. These "lost souls" can be lost due to obsessing over something positive as well; whenever we become too one-track-minded, we can easily lose ourselves. Perhaps Joe was on this slippery slope before he fell and found himself in the Great Beyond.
Among the topic of "lost souls," Soul attempts to address the fact that even when you end up getting exactly what you thought you wanted, it often doesn't make us happy in the way that we expect it to. Even once Joe is finally able to live his dream of performing with the well-renown jazz band, he finds himself feeling empty. This question of "what now?" tends to haunt all of us after we achieve something we've been striving for for so hard and for so long. From psychological studies of happiness, it is clear that this is not a rare phenomenon. As humans, we crave new experiences and stimuli. We seek goals and accomplishments, because we desire to give our lives more meaning. But could it be that purpose is something more than achievements?
Throughout the film, Soul #22 is searching for her spark- something that makes her really feel like she's alive. She asks Joe if her spark could be walking through the city, or collecting feathers, or savoring food. Joe scoffs at #22, explaining that those things aren't important enough to be a spark. A spark should not be confused with your life's purpose, though, it turns out that this has been one of Joe's hugest struggles to distinguish the two. Joe can not accept the fact that his purpose and value do not need to tie into his spark. Joe finds himself wallowing in self pity that his spark is not the way he earns a living. And he dismisses any sort of joy #22 feels from these things that he deems unworthy of being labelled a spark.
So what's the difference between purpose and a spark? In the movie, they describe a spark as something that makes you feel alive. It often leads you to feeling like you're "in the zone," somewhere you're particularly inspired or lose yourself in what you're doing. For me, I have numerous sparks. Connecting with the people I care about the most, Zumba, hiking, biking, singing, new songs, immersive shows, video games, creative endeavors, writing, planning themed-parties for friends, and the list goes on. These things often feel like they give my life meaning. But these sparks are not my purpose either.
Joe soon realizes that Soul #22's "stop and smell the roses" attitude allows her to fully appreciate living. So often Joe didn't have perspective of all the many small reasons to be thankful. All the small sparks, meaningful relationships, and small joys of life matter. It is not until these things are taken away from him and when he's able to see the world from a fresh perspective that Joe realizes that the small things have a purpose too. They can make you feel alive and grateful every day.
Soul doesn't attempt to define purpose. But perhaps this is because all life has purpose. If you're alive and breathing, you matter. It's excellent when your spark and your feeling of fulfilment might overlap with one another or even with your career! Even if these things don't coincide, that doesn't mean that you are a failure or that you can't appreciate the deep beauty of your life.
And maybe that's what Soul is really trying to convey... Our lives aren't about quickly rushing through every moment, pretending as if we have an eternity to live them. They're not about materialism, comparing our achievements to others', or even the accomplishments we work so hard for. Our lives are about appreciating the moments that make our lives unique and wonderful. They're about the connections we make and the other lives we touch. As the movie concludes, whatever we choose to do with our lives, we should be living them.
