9: Pieces of the Soul

(WARNING: Contains Spoilers)

I couldn’t help but think of Harry Potter when I was watching the animated film 9 directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. Why, you might ask? Well, because both films talk about pieces of the soul, albeit in totally different ways.

In Harry Potter the villain Voldemort rips away pieces of his soul by murdering others. He then places those pieces within an object known as a Horcrux. For those of you who are not Potter fans, a Horcrux is a magical object in which a wizard hides a part of his soul in an attempt to become immortal. As long as his soul is contained in the object he cannot die. Voldemort doesn’t seem to care that he has to kill others to assure that he remains immortal. He also doesn’t seem to understand that his violent acts serve to diminish the life force in his own body.

The movie 9 also deals with the idea of a soul splitting, but in a much more altruistic manner.

9 (Elijah Wood) is a sapient burlap doll who wakes up to find himself in a post apocalyptic world where all humans are gone. In this world he finds 8 other dolls, like himself, who have taken refuge from some huge machines that are out to destroy any signs of life.

Towards the end of the movie we discover that the human creator of these 9 dolls infused each of them with a piece of his soul so that life could be preserved on earth. He didn’t do it from any selfish motive, but from a loving desire to preserve the essence of life and to bring that life to his creations.

All of us are creations of a Higher Power and we were all infused with a piece of that Creator’s energy. We are all pieces of one Soul and we are already immortal. We don’t have to do anything or take anything away from anyone else to attain immortality, it is already ours. Our bodies may fade away, but the soul lives on. Those who understand this premise live their lives respecting others and all of life. Those who don’t, like Voldemort, strike out at others from a place of fear.

All of us create from time to time. It doesn’t matter if you are an artist, a scientist, a writer or musician, a cook, a carpenter, or a parent. We all create on some level, and we all want to bring something of ourselves into our creations. This desire innately comes, not from a place of fear, but from a place of love. We don’t diminish ourselves when we give rise to something out of love and creativity, instead we add to not only our life, but to the lives of others. All of us leave a part of ourselves here on earth in the things we create. This blog is one of the ways I lovingly share bits of my soul with others. What about you? Take a moment and think of the many ways in which you create, share yourself and leave this world a better place.