Spirited Away
when youre a child the veil is thin, or maybe you havent conditioned yourself to filter out all the interference from the other side (many theorize this is why babies will cry for no reason btw). when i was a kid i was very skittish and scared all the time, i was very careful and quiet and nervous so i have always really related to chihiro. when i was around 8 or 9 i read in a book and learned about artemis and i was enamored with her in particular so i rode my bike to the woods and tried to speak to her out loud and she didnt respond so i thought that either 1. she was not real or 2. she would not talk to me because i was not a girl yet. but i did feel some presence in that moment so i did not close my mind and that has stuck with me ever since and i became obsessed with the feeling of being around water and plants. we are meant to be here.
adults have their stability and rules and jobs and cars and coins and credit cards and everyone wants so much and you have to go to school, you have to get a job, and you have to want. and before you are fully indoctrinated into this ecosystem you can feel the contradictions of that and its natural to react with a lot of fear. you have to fit in! we are in 2 pieces both very much part of nature and its cycle: dust body and spirit mind. there is the pull to forget the way everything interconnects and to just fill your role without thinking, there is the pull to think so hard that you separate yourself from the physical. but these 2 pieces are one whole and you have to be yourself fully and embrace both while you're you until you arent you any more. its a very beautiful and evocative movie.
(10-26-2025)