*Slight spoiler alert for the movie Inside Out*
Wouldn’t it be nice if we had someone like Joy who protected our “Core Memories” from becoming sad ones? A switchboard to help us navigate through our emotions, telling us how to act or react in an instant? Or maybe an army of emotions fighting every second of our lives to ensure that our family islands or goofball islands stayed strong and intact?
Oh but, wait, we do have all of that!
We’re sent people and opportunities in our life, along with prayers from all our angels and Saints to protect our “Core Memories”. We have the Bible and the teachings of our Church to guide us and help us navigate through our emotions and actions. And last but not least we have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit loving us in every second while fighting to keep our islands afloat – family island, friends island, honesty island, virtue island, purity island, personality island, phases of life island, etc.
The movie, in all its great simplicity, is a good starter to show kids how important all our emotions are, including sadness or anger, but that’s just the beginning. You see Riley develop the first emotion of Joy, then as she grows up there are new emotions that pop up until you have Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear. The thing is, there are many more that we develop over time and it’s a constant juggling act to figure out what they all are and what they all mean.
I like to think, in a certain way, that the “Core Memories” of Jesus can be found in the Mysteries of the Rosary. Similar to the end of the movie, we learn that these core memories aren’t meant to be Joy 100% of the time. In reality, they’re a mixed bag – like Joy, Sorrow, Light, and Glory. They make up who we are, and if we’re made in the image and likeness of God, then it’s expected that our “Core Memories” have spots of sorrow, light, and glory. That little piece of insight provides me great consolation; knowing that this journey is truly a journey, one that is not perfect, one that we can fight to remain joyful in to the best of our ability, but ultimately one that points to His journey and His mercy.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.”
[Ecclesiastes 3:1-8]