Spark火花

提要

火花是爆點，是激勵、鼓舞自己的動力，每個人的「點」都不同，可能是準時趕到辦公室的一杯香濃咖啡；也可能是漫步公園旁踩落葉的沙沙聲；或是經過海邊聞到帶有鹽味的空氣……完全無法用金錢衡量價值的微小事物，卻意想不到地讓人充滿能量、鼓起勇氣繼續接受挑戰。



What is your spark, the purpose in life? Better yet, what is the purpose of life? These are very big, some might say adult, questions that Pixar's latest blockbuster animation Soul throws our way.

In this movie, Jazz pianist Joe Gardner thinks death has just denied him his purpose in life. This beautiful film encourages us to let go of the obsession with purpose and make the most of the small joys in life instead.

The film beautifully takes us to the other-worldly lands of "the great beyond" and "the great before", the home of souls before, and the afterlife, where Joe meets his unlikely "soul mate 22", from whom he eventually learns some important lessons.

Whilst the film's subject matter is certainly on the heavy side, nevertheless, the big message about making the most of the small joys in life can resonate with us all.

These quotes share some of the times when that message came across best:

Band leader Dorothea: I heard this story about a fish. He swims up to this older fish and says, "I'm trying to find this thing they call the ocean." "The ocean?" says the older fish, "that's what you're in right now." "This?" says the younger fish, "This is water. What I want is the ocean."

Dorothea: "What's wrong teach?"

Joe: "It's just I've been waiting on this day for my entire life. I thought I'd feel different."

Joe: "So, what do you want to be remembered for?"

Joe: "Hey, we never found out what 22's purpose was. You know, her spark. Her purpose. Was it music? Biology? Walking?"

Soul Counselor B: "We don't assign purposes. Where did you get that idea?"

Joe: "Because I have a piano. It's what I was born to do. That's my spark."

Soul Counselor B: "A spark isn't a soul's purpose."

Soul Counselor A: "So what do you think you'll do? How are you going to spend your life?"

Joe: "I'm not sure. But I do know, I'm going to live every minute of it. Life is full of possibilities, you just need to know where to look."



解說

你的「火花」（人生目標）是什麼？更棒的問法是，生命的目的是什麼？這些是皮克斯去年推出的動畫大片電影《靈魂急轉彎》（Soul），向觀眾拋出的大哉問，有些甚至可以說是針對成人的問題。

在片中，爵士鋼琴家喬認為，死亡剝奪了他的人生目標；這部華麗影像的電影，鼓勵人們放下對特定目標的痴迷執著，反而應該充分利用、享受生活中的看似微小的樂趣。

電影完美地將觀眾帶到另一個世界的「浩瀚的超越」和「包羅萬象的過去」，靈魂轉往來世之前暫歇的家園，在那裡，喬遇到了與他完全不合拍的「靈魂伴侶 『22』」，（也因為彼此間的巨大落差）他最終從中學到了一些重要的教訓。

雖然會聯想到兒童的動畫電影來表現這種主題，可能對觀者來說太沉重了，但對於「充分利用生活中的小樂趣」這樣的重要訊息，卻可以引起所有人的共鳴。

以下這些引述片中的對白，分享最能體會這些訊息的最佳時機：

樂團領隊朵蘿西亞：「我聽說過一個『魚的故事』。年輕魚游到一條年長魚的面前說：『我正在努力尋找他們稱之為海的東西。』 『海？年長的魚說，你此時就在海裡啊。』『這裡？』小魚說：『這是水。我想要找的是大海。』」

朵蘿西亞：「那裡不對勁呢，老師？」

喬：「只因為我一生都在等待這一天的到來。（真的到來）卻跟我想像的感覺不一樣。」

喬：「那麼，（這整個人生之中）你希望被別人記住的（特質）什麼？」

喬：「嘿，我們可從來沒有發現22的人生目標是什麼。你知道嗎，她的『火花』，她的人生目標究竟是音樂？生物學？還是散步？」

靈界顧問 B：「我們不指定目標的，你是從哪裡得到這種想法的？」

喬：「因為我有一架鋼琴，彈奏就是我生來要做的事。那是我的火花。」

靈魂顧問 B：「火花不是靈魂的目的。」

靈魂顧問A：「那你覺得你會怎麼做？你打算怎樣度過你的一生？」

喬：「我不確定。但我知道，我會好好地享受每一分鐘。生活充滿了各式各樣可能性，你只需要知道如何尋找。」