Career Path Lessons from "Soul"

Dezrah Blinn

I just watched Pixar's "Soul" last night. A perfect exploration of the concept/myth of finding purpose. It's a breathtakingly beautiful movie that should be mandatory viewing for people at all career levels.

I've had the privilege of having a few "brass ring" moments. Gigs that were supposed to "make" me, take my career and life to the next level. You know what happened? Life just went on, I went back to my day job and no one on the street knew or cared that I had just been performing for 1500 people.

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

Investing your entire sense of self and purpose into one moment/project/career leads to emptiness if you achieve it and bitterness if you don't. The reality of grabbing that brass ring can never measure up to our expectations and the obsessive pursuit of the ring makes it hard to see all the things that really matter. 

Meaning comes from living life, from community and friendships, not a gig.

Jenny Gunderman

I love what you've said here and agree 100%. It's so easy to fall into that trap of thinking "if only .... [dream event/accomplishment happened] everything would be okay."

Now I need to see that movie.