Name: Wafauzia Nur Fatimah

NPM: 2210302015
Class: 1

Spark and The Purpose of Life

When I was younger, teachers and parents asked me this question: what do you want to
be when you grow up? Being a naive and cheerful kid at that time, I answered, "I want
to be a doctor so I can help people!" Seems like they were giving a standing ovation
(standing ovation) with a proud expression (proud expression) when I gave that answer.
I felt like they had high expectations of me.

Throughout middle school, when the school subjects were getting more complicated
(especially math and science), I felt hopeless and unsure whether I could become a
doctor or not since I really struggled at subjects that involved calculation. Therefore, I
told my parents about it and they suggested that I should do a research (do research)
about fashion designer job prospects. When I took a look at it, my eyes filled with
sparkles. This is it, become (becoming) a fashion designer will be my future. My spark,
my purpose of life.

My love for drawing and dress are enough reasons for me to pursue fashion major at
vocational high school. The first grade was going great. Even though I struggled with
sewing, I enjoyed the process. Then, pandemic (a pandemic) hit me like a train. Due to
this event, I often have low energy because of illnesses and my grades are going
downhill. I blamed myself a lot at that time. I felt miserable and gradually lost my
purpose in life. The idea of becoming a fashion designer is getting blurry each day.
What are humans without purpose, so I thought.

At the beginning of January, 2021, I came across a Pixar movie titled Soul. I watched it
without hesitation and expectation. I thought it was just (will be) an ordinary animation
(animated) movie, but boy was I wrong. This movie is life-changing. The definition of
so-called "spark" or "purpose of life" is way different than I ever imagined and
acknowledged. It altered my whole perspective about the purpose of life.

According to the website of npr.org, Soul tackles passion, purpose, and the meaning of
life. These topics are rarely discussed and addressed in animated movies. Soul tells
about a middle school music teacher named Joe Gardner that has a dream to become a
famous Jazz musician. Day by day, he tried to perform in a few places but each of them
did not accept the offer. After tons of effort, one day, Joe gets an offer to perform in a
famous Jazz event that happens to be in a club. He is ecstatic that his dream is about to
come true. However, he died due to falling down an open manhole because of his own
excitement. He is supposed to go into an afterlife called “Great Beyond,” but he tries to
escape and ends up in “Great Before” where new souls are in training and prepared for
life on Earth with guidance from counselors and. Additionally, experienced souls acts
(who have experience in certain fields will guide) as a new souls’ mentor.

Joe was mistaken as a mentor and assigned to help a soul named 22 to find a passion
and personality trait, so that she could get an Earth badge and live life. After thousands
of years staying in Great Before, 22 finally found her spark after accidentally falling to
Earth and living in Joe's body, while Joe lives in a cat’s body. At the end of the day, Joe
and 22 were caught by the souls’ counter named Terry and returned them to the Great
Before. 22’s badge is complete, but Joe, getting furious, insists that the badge is
complete due to the experience from his body. Additionally, he told 22 that she still has
not found her spark. A counselor tells Joe that spark is not souls’ purpose of life. At the
end, Joe realized that the counselor was right all along. Then, he accompanies 22 on her
journey to Earth as far as he could go. After that, as he is about to go to Great Beyond, a
counselor offers him another chance to live life, as a thanks for guiding and inspiring 22
to live.

I learned a lot from Soul. Without this movie, I might not be able to be who I am today
and stuck in my old mindset about spark and the purpose of life. I realized that I simply
just want to help other people, spread kindness, and compassion. I want other people to
rely on me whenever they feel like there is no one to talk to. I also realized that no
matter what happens, as long as I keep living, everything will be alright eventually.
Spark is not about what we want to be when we grow up, dream jobs, fame, being the
greatest, or about reputation. Spark is not a purpose, not humans' purpose. Spark is
simply a desire to live, simply being grateful about the simple things such as looking at
the sky, getting ice cream, eating spicy food, and sharing stories with our loved ones
that are always there on our side. The purpose of life is simply to live it, to experience
each moment of it. Simply living in the present.