Inside Out

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“When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.” – Francois de la Rochefoucald

My kids have been watching Inside Out on repeat lately. For anyone who hasn’t seen this movie or doesn’t have kids who watch things over and over until they wring out all the meaning they can, it’s a Disney movie (released in 2015) where we get to see “inside” an 11-year-old girl’s head. There’s a console in there where Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are running the show.

It has so many brilliantly done scenes. Like where the memory workers are cleaning up long-term memory and come to the piano lessons section. The worker with the clipboard says something like, “Keep Chopsticks and Heart and Soul and clear away the rest.”

Or when a bag of thoughts get spilled and the character of Joy says, “Oh no, facts and opinions look so much alike.” And the other character says, “It’s okay, they get confused all the time.”

It makes me think of my walk down memory lane this week with the story about the set up in college and then my dad’s sermon that talked about parenting and family problems. Neither of those are things I think about often. But I met a person that reminded me of my sister and it kicked off a little inspection of the things that came up.

When I look at how things have played out, I feel sadness for all my sister must have felt growing up believing she didn’t belong and the long-term impact that it’s had. There would have been a time that I would have been afraid to unpack all that. Now it’s just uncomfortable, but part of what’s made me “me.” And I can touch it and know that I’ll return to my mostly happy set-point, something that Dr. Stein has taught me in the many Sharing the Heart of the Matter podcasts he’s done with Vicki Atkinson and me.

In the movie, the little girl’s family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco. Inside the console of her head, we see Sadness touching memories and turning them blue. Joy wants Sadness to stay inside a circle and not touch anything else. But through 90 minutes of delightful back and forth, Joy finally understands that when Sadness surfaces, it’s part of what prompts us to reach out to others and share.

Miss O wanted to know why the memories turned blue. I answered that I thought that sometimes things are a mix of things. Like ice cream that sometimes comes with brain freeze. Miss O thought that it’s because without sadness, we don’t know what joy is.

Inside Out 2 is scheduled to release in June, 2024. Can you imagine the conversations we’ll have once we add Anxiety into the mix?

(featured photo from Pexels)

In this week’s episode of the Sharing the Heart of the Matter podcast, Vicki and I are talking about the latest book from author David Brooks, How to Know a Person. We delve into so many great things David Brook’s suggests in order to know someone else from the inside out.

Click over to Episode 64: Knowing a Person with Vicki and Wynne or Search (and subscribe!) for Sharing the Heart of the Matter on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or Pocket Casts.

54 thoughts on “Inside Out”

  2. Oh my gosh…I had no idea another “Inside Out” was in the works! I loved the first one and all of the aspects that were spot-on — especially for the grown-up kids. 😉 I’m not surprised that Miss O really took to the film…of course she would, asking the most excellent questions! 💕

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  3. Inside Out 2 should be a wild ride with the emotion of anxiety tossed into the mix. Miss O spoke the truth regarding sadness helping us experience joy. The film really provided several entry points facilitating discussion about all of our emotions, and I think that in no small part is why the movie was so well received, Wynne.🙂

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  5. How did I miss this movie! Yes, I’m a kid at heart, that would be right up my alley. I love the discussion that you’re having with your kids and your own self analysis. I think those with the ability to look back on sad scenes like you mentioned and even let them marinate for a time and then pull themselves back to a state of normalcy are the real hero’s in society. The mature ones. I can’t wait to see the two movies. 🎥 😎

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    1. You must have been a busy dad at the time! Maybe it hit when your kids weren’t watching Disney movies. What an interesting comment you’ve made about emotional maturity. Sounds pretty spot on. Have a great weekend, Brian!

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  7. My daughter was the QUEEN of watching movies over and over. (She would get the whole elementary school yard to re-enact different movie scenes, while she stood in the center directing, and in winter she stood on the big snow pile.) Her kids watched movies over and over so many times the DVDs had to be replaced.

    I have gone through 2 generations doing this! When got I tired of it I’d have to just tune it out since the kitchen and living-room were one room!

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      1. Lol, well, I don’t know about being a saint, but there were times when it took a lot of patience! 😄 Thankfully with the 3 grandkids they had to take turns, so it was 3 shows on repeat not just 1! 😅

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  10. I wish that movie had come out when my son was young – I think we all would have benefitted from it. Miss O really nailed it when she realized “without sadness, we don’t know what joy is”. How fortunate your kids are growing up with a level of emotional awareness that many adults I know don’t have.

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  13. My granddaughter loved the movie. We watched several times. She even decided which of the emotions her mother, father, Papa and Grandma were. She chose Joy for herself. At the time she was feeling a lot of emotions as the family had just moved from Illinois to Michigan and she was missing home and friends and trying to adjust to a new environment. The movie really helped us as a family be able to discuss our emotions. I really liked the concept that joy needs sadness to be complete. Anger, sadness, even disgust is not in itself bad. We should be able to experience our emotions without feeling guilty. But, of course, we also must not let them rule us. Looking forward to the new movie.

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    1. Oh, I love how applicable the movie must be when your granddaughter moved. Wow! You are right about needing the freedom to feel all of the emotions – but still mastering them. Love how movies open up these topics for us! Thanks for the great comment, Barb!

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  15. What a great idea for a show Wynne. I had no idea of its existence. Thank you for sharing. And Miss O and your conversation, insightful as always. One thing I’d add to that is, to feel joy we do have to move through the blue, stroke it with a flush of pink. And then it becomes purple, joy. Joy is not the absence of sorrow. We feel it because we’ve known sorrow.

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  16. I’ve never heard of that movie either. I love your brilliant daughter who has so much insight for her years. “Miss O thought that it’s because without sadness, we don’t know what joy is.”

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  20. Inside Out is such a wonderful movie for the very reasons you stated. We’ve watched it a few times. If only we could understand our own emotions and teach our kids to do at the microscopic level. The world would be a better place.

    I can’t wait for the sequel and yes, anxiety changes things a lot!

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  21. My grandson and I really enjoyed that movie. I didn’t realize (until now!) that there is an “Inside Out 2” coming soon. We’ll have to catch that for sure. I love those wise words from Miss O too. She is 100% correct!

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