Magic

We finally saw Toy Story 3 yesterday with the kids. We gave them movie passes at Christmas and said they were for this movie, but of course, between December and June we found other movies to take them to, and then we struggled to find a free weekend to go when Toy Story 3 actually came out.

This was the only weekend we could go, and then William got the same fever that monkeyed with Ava's sleepover plans earlier this week. Kids are unpredictable. You make your plans, and then you roll with the punches that come your way. I tend to stiffen up when punches come at me. I wouldn't describe myself as "one who rolls", but rather "one who freezes up and becomes enraged."

I don't like my plans altered in any way. We had set up the movie and dinner plan with friends, and I was not going to be the one to cancel it. There was no vomit involved, simply a low grade temperature that improved drastically with Motrin, so we went, feeling slightly irresponsible as we held our tired boy, but our plans became the activities which will later become memories.

The movie was terrific. Everyone has said so, and the reviewers have gushed about how it makes grown men cry, and I am a big fan of the first two Toy Story movies. This one was pure magic. Those geniuses at Pixar have managed to take a film about toys and turn it into something poignant and moving in a way that most films designed for adults can't replicate. It touches something nostalgic and real, deep inside of people; a yearning for what is gone and can never be again, while rejoicing in the magic of imagination at any age. An extraordinary feat, and they pulled it off in the context of a child's film full of laughter and heart. John Lasseter and his team make it look easy, when of course making a successful movie on that many levels is anything but.

I'm going to look around me today for the magic in my life that I'm too busy or uninterested in on most days. The movie awakened something that was sleeping inside of me: a childlike fascination with play and imagination. I want to have more fun, laugh easier, and not think of playing as wasted time. I'm going to try not to get bogged down in the details of the mundane, but look higher for inspiration and joy. It's all around me, but I must take the time and make the effort to find it.