Hello Everyone,
In this month’s newsletter I’ll be discussing a way that you can discuss the topic of the true source of happiness with all ages. The other day I discovered a recently released movie entitled “Trolls” by DreamWorks Animation which some of you may have already seen, if not beware spoilers below.
Upon watching this film I found it chocked full of analogy’s showing perfect examples of misunderstandings of the true source of happiness. The movie shows the Trolls as small creatures who believe they can only live in an almost perpetual state of happiness by singing, dancing, hugging every hour on the hour and remaining overly positive all day long. However, they are discovered by the Bergens, large creatures who believe they never feel happy, as everything they see about their life is negative, but discover that they feel a state of happiness for a moment, if they devour a Troll.
The movie goes on to show how both sides go through their own struggles to eventually come to the conclusion of how they can be happy. The Trolls learn that the true source of happiness comes from the inside and the way we judge the present moment and not by singing, dancing, hugging and always remaining overly positive. They essentially have a moment of clarity leading them to an insight that frees them from the shackles of illusion with positive thinking. Later one of the trolls shares this moment of clarity and insight with one of the Bergens and coaches her on her misunderstandings and helps her discover that the true source of happiness comes from inside ourselves and not from our experience. Together they then embark on helping the other Bergens learn that they do not need to eat a Troll to feel happy and can choose to feel happy at any moment based on how they view their experience. By the end of the movie we see the Trolls and the Bergens breaking through their illusions and misunderstandings together and no longer having an outside in view of the world.
Just like the Trolls and the Bergens we ourselves can easily get caught up in an illusion of misunderstandings and believe that what we see or do on the outside dictates how we feel on the inside.
If you have a chance to watch the movie, give it a go, as it’s a great way for all generations to open the topic of where the true source of happiness comes from.
Perhaps your finding yourself, like many of us, trapped in an illusion of misunderstandings. If so, feel free to contact me and let’s have a chat.
May you all be well in spirit and health.
~Peter Lorean, CLC, CH.t
References
Mitchell, M. (Director). (2016). Trolls [Animated movie]. USA: DreamWorks Animation.
Trolls (film). (2017, July 18). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolls_(film)