Although I love that the weather is becoming warmer, and want to be outside immersed in it, we have had some pretty wet weather as of late. So what to do when it's too stormy to be outdoors? Well, we like playing board games, cards or coloring, but we also enjoy watching old movies or TV shows too. While I enjoy watching some things just for the sake of watching, I generally want to watch things, and have my children watch things, that will cause us to ponder the meaning or lessons that may apply to our life at that moment.
Nothing puts a smile on my face more than when watching something that produces questions from the girls such as, "she said the Mystic could be anywhere after the Mystic passed away, that is so true" or, "it made me think about looking past the outside and seeing what's on the inside". What movies can cause children to come up with these statements? Movies with meaning, that's what. Yes, even animated movies and shows can create thought provoking questions in children AND adults. The list of movies with meaning is endless, I thought I might share a few that most people have probably never heard of, but should definitely make it a point to put on their "to-watch" list.
My movie reviews:
Our all time favorites is Song of the Sea: The movie is about mythical meeting modern, and the choices we have to make living in each. One theme that certainly strikes a cord with us was something that our last book club book, The Gift of Imperfection, brought to light. That lesson is that you cannot numb the painful moments that cause suffering, without also numbing the joyful ones. You cannot pick and choose emotions to numb, when you numb one, you numb them all. Sometimes there is suffering, but you should not close off from that or you risk losing that experience and others that may provide powerful lessons and possible joyful moments.
The Secret of Kells has an amazing storyline about releasing your fear and holding onto your faith even when times seem dark. It also explores how sometimes those in power may feel they have our best interests at heart, but that building walls to keep others out can sometimes create more walls that never truly allow us to live.
The Secret World of Arrietty is a more recent version of The Borrowers. The lessons in this one relate to unlikely friendships that allow courage to blossom in new ways.
My Neighbor Totoro brings imagination back to life, and reminds us that we should never lose that child-like imagination to foster hope, creativity and patience.
Howl's Moving Castle explores the issue of vanity, and how outward appearances may not always tell the whole story of what is going on inside of someone. It also provides a lesson in not running from our problems because they will still be there, it requires courage and bravery to face our most troubling issues so we can find inner peace and stability.
The Dark Crystal is a Jim Henson production, and an extraordinary viewing as the lessons in this are numerous. The most obvious one being that each of us has negative and positive elements within us, it is up to us to put our ego and greed aside to allow the positive ones to shine, or we risk losing ourselves to the negative ones.
Jesus & Buddha: Practicing Across Traditions causes us to, again, put down the walls we have built in regards to a "right" faith to embrace the root of both Christianity, Buddhism, and many others, which is all about living a life based on love, kindness, compassion and service. I might add that living in this way applies not only to others, but to ourselves as well through self care. Without love, kindness and compassion for the self, you cannot be of authentic service to others.
Want one that is more recent? Okey dokey, we recommend Inside Out. This one is not only hilarious, but drives home the message that inside of us are all these emotions (five in particular for this movie), but as The Song of the Sea taught us, you can't only harness the joyful ones at all times. You need to experience and allow the other emotions (fear, disgust, sadness, anger) as well to provide balance and a basis to understand the lessons that life offers us. For instance, some fear can keep us safe in a dangerous environment (i.e., not walking alone at night in an unfamiliar area). Some disgust can help us to learn that certain things keep us healthy (i.e., washing hands after going to the bathroom). Occasional sadness allows us to process pain instead of burying or numbing it, provide better judgment capabilities based on past experience, and/or create a stronger sense of motivation for growth (i.e., acknowledging the loss of a loved one and how it hurts to not have the physical body here can open up the door to growth in other areas, creating the opportunity for us to remember all the beautiful happy memories, and can motivate us to experience positive tools in creating, albeit different, but new happy memories. Wheres hiding the pain may create other health problems and possible addictions). Even allowing some anger helps by keeping uncontrollable urges in check, and this keeps us, and others, safe ;) (i.e., using words to convey our annoyance, not yelling or cursing, can release our feeling in a more constructive manner, causing us and others to question and respect what is making us upset. We then can choose tools to help physically release that as well, such as a punching bag or power yoga. Whereas always ignoring our anger/irritations so people don't get offended will eventually create powerful pent up volcanic reactions and explosions, again not healthy for ourselves or those we've lashed out at). Finally, we have the joyful emotions, which are pleasant to experience. Joy grants us the moments of elation and happiness that can boost health, gratitude and appreciation (i.e., beginning a new project, hobby or friendship).
I hope at some point you can view one, or all, of these movies. Check the weather, pick some upcoming rainy days to pencil these into your calendar, and see what your take away may be from each.
Have an inspirational, thought provoking, movie/show to share? Feel free to add them in the comments!
