I really thought hard about what I could share with this update, since most of the stuff I talked about previously is still a work in progress. So rather than talk about improving and moving forward this time, I want to talk about a movie I saw last year called Soul.

Soul was one of the only movies I managed to watch in theatres last year, and I really liked it a lot. It follows a man just on the verge of making it, but before he does, he accidentally ends up in the ‘Great Before’. This is where new Souls get their ‘spark’ before coming to earth.

Soul did something that I feel is almost radical for a story aimed at kids – reject the idea of having a sole purpose to work towards. Yes, goals are important in our lives, but Soul really highlighted how they simply aren’t everything. When we focus too much on the arbitrary destinations we set for ourselves or others sometimes set for us, our perceived failures are only amplified and victories feel underwhelming. We lose perspective and keep thinking, “what now?”.

Perspective

Life has changed a lot in just the past year for everyone, including me. I went from being a student to a working adult. I’ve had to deal with a lot of self-doubt while stumbling my way through. In many ways, I was really in a bad head space for a lot of last year and sometimes felt really lost. Whether the global pandemic and nationwide lockdown had anything to do with it is anyone’s guess. But in all honesty, I realise now that I’ve been really blessed.

The pandemic took away so many opportunities and made life difficult for so many, but it created opportunities for me. There’s so much I could be thankful for. I have a job. A roof over my head. Family and friends who have stuck by me.

There are things in my personal life that I still feel defeated by sometimes. It can sometimes feel like time is slipping through my fingers and life is coming crashing down. But when something unexpectedly wonderful happens, even something small like a beautiful rainbow in the sky, it gives me a sense of peace that things might turn out fine.

When I have a good meal and all just feels right in the world. When I laugh with my family and wish time would just stop. When I watch something that becomes special to me or changes my perspective on life, just like Soul, I am reminded of just how much there is worth living for.

100 000 views is not a lot in the context of the internet today, but it is a milestone worth celebrating nonetheless. Not as a medal to be collected, but as a stone on my bridge. The journey, after all, has just begun.