What can really save people from nothingness, decadence, sadness, depression and hardship is not just living in the moment, but curiosity and love for life itself. ----Inscription
Relative to the physical body, it is from birth to death, going back and forth between two sites. The soul has 2 more spaces, "the Great Before" and "The Great Beyond". After the body dies, the soul will enter the place of rebirth. There is the transcendence of dead souls. After the death of the body, different souls peacefully line up to walk on the long transparent ladder, leading to an absolute light. What is behind this light, is it eternal joy, or will it enter the final judgment, the film does not describe it in detail, but let us follow the steps of the protagonist Joey Gardner, and enter the "place of birth" ( the Great Before).
Joey is a part-time elementary school music teacher who has a great interest in jazz piano playing, a lifelong pursuit. However, the gap between ideals and reality makes him live a boring life before the story of the film begins. In the school, with most of the students who do not love music, he responsibly conducts boring teaching over and over again. The age of 30+, a subsistence occupation, and only a part-time job.
At the beginning of the film, the good news finally arrives. The school recognizes his ability and offers him a full-time job: a full-time band teacher, including employment security, medical insurance and pensions. His life has a better foundation, a higher ability to resist risks, and a more secure retirement in old age. As far as life is concerned, it is definitely not easy progress, but it seems that Joey is not so happy because of it.
Fortunately, double happiness is coming. On the same day, Joey got a call from Curry, a former student, about a chance to play with jazz legend and idol Dorothea Williams. This was the opportunity he had been looking forward to for half his life, but in ecstasy, he accidentally stepped into a deep well, and his life was on the line. His soul has come to the "land of death", and the most glorious moment of his life will come soon. How can it end like this? He desperately walked back, trying to escape the confirmation of death. Came to "the place of birth". It turns out that before coming to the world, all souls will follow their spiritual mentor to develop their character in "You Seminar" (Spiritual Academy), and then find their "Spark" in "hall of everything" (Hall of Everything) (spark), the soul can get a pass to earth.
Here, he meets an ancient soul who has refused to travel to Earth for thousands of years, Number 22.
In the second half of the film, Soul No. 22 found her spark, Spark, and after thousands of years, finally decided to take the first step to experience a complete life on Earth. But by Joey Gardner's words, the small flame that had just started to burn was extinguished.
If you give up hope in life, you will enter decadence and nihilism, in order to be cynical and confront all meaninglessness.
If hope rises, it is possible to face disappointment. The more you pay, the stronger your faith will be. When hope is shattered, the more painful and hurtful it will be, and the more difficult it will be to face and recover.
When Joey finally finished his obsession, after performing on the same stage with iconic jazz legend Dorothea Williams. Discovering the moments of life that I once thought could change everything, but it is a constant repetition every day after that.
From his pocket, he took out the things that inspired Soul No. 22 to be interested in life on earth, a piece of sausage, a leaf, a lollipop... The first touch of life inspired his fingers to move on the black and white keys of the piano. Shuttle between, flowing out an endless stream of beautiful notes. When he entered "heart flow", he accidentally saw the soul number 22 who had merged with the dust.
He guiltily entered the dark world of Soul No. 22 at the moment, and heard her inner voice swept across his eardrums. It was a wave of self-deprecation and self-blame that could not be quenched or muted, coming from all directions. Seeing this scene, I believe that all those who have experienced or are experiencing depression will feel it is so familiar, or have been crying at some point.
From a creative perspective, the film wants to talk to us about what is life and what is the meaning of life?
Joy Gardner, a part-time music teacher at an elementary school, tries to inspire the musical dreams of bored students with repetitive boring teaching tasks. However, there is only a meager income, imperfect welfare benefits, and a future without expectations. Everything, except for the dream of a jazz player in his heart, is a decadent gray.
When Soul No. 22 looked at the exhibition of his life, he couldn't understand such an ordinary and boring life. Isn't death a liberation, why should he do everything possible to get back to the world.
However, in the life that can be written in these boring 3 lines, No. 22, who has not found a spark for thousands of years, found a reason to try to live. Got a passport to Earth.
The meaning of life is different for each unique soul, others' honey or our arsenic.
Even if Joey does not have the jazz dream in his heart, he may not necessarily appreciate the beauty of looking at the sky, walking, eating a piece of pizza, a sausage, a lollipop, and picking up a leaf.
Soul No. 22 can appreciate every fresh perception with endless curiosity today, whether it is taste, smell, touch, hearing, or feeling, for this fresh soul who is a human on the first day, it is full of infinite Possibly and intriguingly attractive. But after more than ten years, can No. 22, who has been squeezed by the pressure of survival, continue to regain today's initial perspective, maintain curiosity, and maintain love?
The film tries to tell us to pay attention to every little luck around us and live in the moment.
Spark is not a talent, not a life mission, not a skill. It is the driving force that grants individuals the ability to survive and the willingness to continue to exist in a long and short life. It is the direction of the original love of life. However, for the purpose of living in the moment, the film forcibly sublimated the storyline and the emotion of the protagonist, and used a momentary change to set off the value of the moment, but it was not real.
Joey Gardner took part in a band show that was on full display, and the night's performance was arguably a success. His idol gave him a very high evaluation "you will have a very pleasant night". And what he perceives is that nothing has changed, so he is unhappy.
Tomorrow, a new performance is about to start, and he may have the opportunity to join the band to get more satisfaction, both materially and spiritually. The so-called immutability of tomorrow's performance simplifies the complex story. He has already entered the circle he wants to enter, and he also has the talent and ability to attract attention. In the future, he may have a broader space for gradual advancement. This is not a return to emptiness after a dream has come true. His mood at that moment was nothing but a sense of loss caused by his return from the concert, his restless and excited heart, and the loneliness after all the excitement around him had ended. When he wakes up tomorrow morning, he'll be back in his passions and dreams.
A momentary or momentary feeling does not mean eternity. Therefore, whether it is Joey's loss or No. 22's surprise, we cannot use this to feel the true meaning of life.
An article I read recently recorded the recent movements of the confirmed cases in Beijing. The real life slices of ordinary people in social cities are unfolded:
34 years old, male, work 50 kilometers round trip every day, review postgraduate entrance exams at night, and was scheduled to travel for 3 days before the exam.
A 32-year-old female, in addition to a full-time job during the day, she also goes to a logistics company at night to work part-time at a large-scale transit center, from 22:00 to 2:00 in the morning, and so on.
40-year-old, male, online car-hailing driver, works 17 hours a day, three meals a day without schedule.
...
For middle-aged people who are old and young, it is easy to talk about living in the moment, but who gives them time to perceive the beauty of life and appreciate the miracles of nature.
Making money to support the family, so that the family has food, clothing, housing, money to see a doctor, take medicine, money to learn and progress is their entire mission.
They don't want to let their children lose at the starting line, thus repeating the tragedy of exchanging their lives for money.
They don't want their parents, who have had a difficult life in their lives, to have no one to support when they are old and sick.
The only thing they can control is their own body. Don't dare to get sick, don't dare to be lazy, don't speak bitter, don't cry. Struggling to carry a burden that is almost unbearable.
They are too busy to ask about the meaning of life. If they have time, they might as well take a nap to make up for the poor sleep.
So I couldn't find more resonance with Joey's storyline. In the simplified suffering, although there is deep reflection on the essence of life, there is a lack of real concern for suffering.
He got the performance he wanted, and after getting it, he was empty. But because of Dorothea's words, how will he face Robert, who just got it and then lost the opportunity to perform this time? What will happen? At least he couldn't say it lightly after he got it, but that's it. I searched for the name Robert for a long time before I found it. For a character who did not even show his head, almost no one would pay attention to his mood and disappointment. And after all, he still has a chance to be the second candidate, and in the long queue waiting, where are we ranked?
Originally living in different parallel universes in the same world, who can tell who's pain? Or it is just in the breath of life, with a beautified picture, reminding us not to just focus on the road, remember to smell the flowers by the roadside. And the real rushers may not even have time to watch a movie.
Looking at the story line of Soul No. 22 again, it touched me to reflect a lot.
Knowing the bitterness of life, would you like to experience it for a little sweetness? She refused to be born, refused for thousands of years, is it cowardly and not brave? Should she take other people's evaluations to heart?
If you have fallen into a painful depression and are enveloped by the low emotions that come to your face, how can you save yourself?
There is no choice about being born, whether it is good or bad, it has already come to this world. It is true that following the general trend can raise boats and seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, but no one stipulates that if you do not agree with yourself, you must also converge with the times. After all, no matter what kind of experience, there is only one road from life to death. Although it is long and short.
When you come to this world, you have a responsibility, even if you don’t necessarily have the kind of responsibility to exchange your life for money, at least you have the responsibility to save your loved ones from pain. This kind of tie is often the last and deepest pull rope that can make people struggling in the world to continue to struggle. Whether this kind of entanglement is good or bad, I have no way of evaluating it.
Every day, what pulls us out of our sleep, packs ourselves up, and begins to face a new day. Is it the pressure of survival, the passion for struggle or the fear of the future?
What if you can't stand up at all? In the film, No. 22 saw a fallen leaf that brought her love for life, shaking off the dust that bound her and her life. In reality, this step is much more difficult. It also takes longer.
Those who are full of chicken blood can't play the slightest role. Just take it one step at a time, starting with one small thing after another, starting with a shower in the evening, a face wash in the morning, and a fragrant face cream and lipstick. Start by restoring one item after another, and gradually tidy up the space. Do it little by little, don't think about anything, give yourself time, and let your eyes and perception see the changes. We're just hurt, not all that's possible in one go.
remember? Every soul is infused with different qualities when they leave "the Great Before", we are just a little more infused with susceptibility and empathy, it's not our fault, any kind of Traits are a double-edged sword. More emotional perception will make it easier for us to understand the pain of others, and we will be a good healer in life. Of course, synchronously, when we encounter sadness, we will also It is easy to feel heavier pain.
I want to tell a story about my idol Leslie Cheung, my brother came home late one night and saw a sad woman on the road with few people to return. He was afraid that she couldn't think about it and would do something stupid, so he stopped the car and persuaded her to stay by her side all night, until he felt that she was all right before leaving. That's the powerful empathic power that a more sensitive person has, a trait that keeps him kind. However, it is undeniable that this trait will also make him feel double frustration and pain in the face of injustice and unfairness.
Remember those moments in life that make you feel moved, let yourself have some interests and pursuits beyond life itself, maybe at the edge of the cliff, they will save you.
Remember when you got up at 3am and wanted to see the rising sun on the top of the mountain?
Remember when you traveled 30 kilometers just to taste a bowl of authentic fresh beef soup?
Do you still remember when you raised your eyes, the sky had turned blue, and you rubbed your sore neck, still unwilling to put down the book in your hand?
Do you still remember the first breath of the fresh smell of the mountains in the mountains surrounded by vines and trees?
...
There are still unreleased films, are you silently looking forward to it?
There are new books that have not yet been published, you have already paid attention to them early?
There is also a small shop that is about to open a new store. You have an appointment with a friend to check in?
...
Some real drama, do not know the final outcome, worse or better?
Will those children who have given their youth face a more difficult life in the future, or will there be unpredictable turning points?
Those who have been counting down for nearly a year but still have no news, will they come back...
In 2020, I continue to see death caused by disease or other force majeure, whether it is the elderly, middle-aged, or young people who are just beginning to grow. Life is impermanent, heaven is impermanent, and the truth is difficult to explain.
In 2020, I saw up close how aging and sickness can transform a once-young body and mind, making it strange and unrecognizable. What exactly is in the depths of human nature, I have a vague idea.
In 2020, I thought that a more tragic new story has been added to the stories that were already bad and indestructible from the previous year.
Today is the last day of 2020, the past has passed, and the future has not yet begun.
The film brings a soft reflection of beauty, but it is unable to justify itself in the face of complex reality.
However, as time goes by, it inspires us to be more courageous, to keep the love and curiosity that we had for the beginning of life, and to try to walk through this ever-changing world of flowers.
It was first published on the official account (i_guduguo, the living room of the Lonely Congress), please contact the official account for reprinting on the official account, and reprinting outside the official account must be authorized by me. ❤Welcome to follow❤.
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