That’s Pixar storytelling rule #1: “You admire a character for trying more than for their successes“. Hence Pixar characters spend the entire movie trying (though they often succeed at the end). Why does it elicit such admiration?
I think that comes from the fact that we are all trying, and we know it is hard. Thus when we see others trying and eventually succeeding we know that they have had to overcome many self-imposed barriers and many other obstacles created by their environment. If characters were to succeed too easily, we would of course just take it for granted – and we would know that it is not how life really is like. We also tend to connect more easily with a person that is visibly struggling to achieve hard stuff – like us.
In our life, showing that we are struggling (and the associated vulnerability) is difficult but is probably rewarding, as many examples abound of people who have decided to share how they feel inadequate and still succeed (for more on this, refer to the books and the TED presentation (one of the top 5 most watched ever) of Brene Brown).
Personally, like many of us, I tend to try to hide my difficulties, my struggles. I tend to believe it does not fit social and professional life, as we always strive to look perfect and with everything going well. Maybe it would be worth showing a bit more how imperfect I feel sometimes – avoiding whining of course? Food for thought for the new year. You might hear more about my struggles!
HT to bitrebels.com for the illustration.
