I recently watched inside out 2 and enjoyed it very much. Pixar once again dives deep into the complexities of the human mind, delivering a film that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

Following are some of the things I absolutely loved and some I couldn’t stop thinking about :

1. How there is such a close bond between sadness and happiness, “where I go you go”. It is crucial for us to remember in times of struggle and sadness, happiness is just around the corner.

2. They used the fact that we are “suppressed emotions” and showed Riley’s 5 original emotions, held captive in a bottle. The phrase “bottling up your emotions” has never seemed more correct.

3. What related with me was how anxiety feels that she is right in “planning for the future”. Anxiety always thought that what she was doing what was best for Riley. But reality ended up being different -Riley started feeling that she was not good enough. We cannot live our lives driven by anxiety alone.

4. One observation was how anxiety made a picture of everything that could go wrong but did not make one for the scenario that every thing would go perfectly and Riley would score a 3-0. Imagining your desired scenario is very crucial. Not only does it increase your self confidence, but also keeps all other emotions in check and makes sure you are in the right direction. Joy did just that, and it was awesome.

5. I found it adorable how sadness immediately connects with embarrassment. Embarrassment was my new favorite emotion. The big guy was the sweetest.

6. The way the “sense of self” was potrayed was mind blowing.

7. One thing which Joy realized at the end was that she let only positive memories go to long term thinking where beliefs were formed, strengthened, and the sense of self was made. Most of us don’t like to accept the less than perfect versions of ourselves where we have made mistakes. But it is important to accept ourselves wholeheartedly and be kind in all the times we have screwed up. Riley’s new sense of self had everything in it – both positive and negative experiences. Beautiful quote from the film which sums up how most of us really are – “I’m selfish, kind, sometimes not good enough, and sometimes a good person. I need to fit in but need to be myself too. I’m brave, sometimes scared, I make mistakes, I’m nice, sometimes mean, a good friend and a terrible friend sometimes. I’m strong, but need help somtimes.”

8. Absoltely loved the “brainstorm” scene where there is actually a chaotic storm of ideas inside her head .Pixar has a way of playing with words and their creativity is unmatched.

9 Felt emotional at the part where Joy becomes sad and admits she doesn’t know how to stop anxiety. “Maybe this is what happens when people grow up, they feel less joy.”

10. Found it interesting how Riley does not co-operate with her own team when all she can hear is “I’m not good enough” in her own head. We become extremely competitive when we feel everything is at stake and we are less than others. In such moments we forget our friends and supporters, and that is something we should not do.

11. When Riley was having a panic attack, all the original and new emotions gathered around her sense of self and hugged it. Our inner self tries hard to make us feel okay and that’s what finally calms us down. Everything will fall in place when we give ourself love and acceptance.

12. In the end Riley “chooses” joy and i think that is the most important lesson. As we grow older, joy is a choice we must consciously make. Joy will not come as easily to us as it did when were kids but we can still make that choice! Doing things “from joy” rather than “for joy” make more of an impact.