Princess Mononoke and the Right to Live

*Disclaimer: Everything I say about this movie is from a Western-Christian point of view. I am in no way trying to speak for the original intent of the writers and producers.

Once a week my brother and I try to get together and watch a movie. We take turns picking and introducing each other to our favorites. My brother is a huge fan of Studio Ghibly (we grew up loving Kiki's Delivery Service), and he has picked his top favorites to show me. So far we have watched (in this order):

Castle in the Sky (Loved!)
Spirited Away (Terrified me, never again.)
Howl's Moving Castle (It was enjoyable, but I had some problems with it.)
Princess Mononoke (LOVED!)

The basic story line of Princess Mononoke is that humans are destroying the forests for industrialism, and the spirit animals (called gods) are at war with the humans to protect the forests. The main character, Ashitaka, comes from a distant village and is unaware of the conflict until he accidentally finds himself in the middle of it. Lady Eboshi is the leader of Irontown where they dig up iron for profit and cut down the forest for building. San, a human who was raised by the the wolf god, helps the wolf clan fight the humans and protect the forest. Ashitaka, as a stranger and outsider, is not emotionally attached to only one side, and wants everyone to coexist peacefully.

In this movie, hate has the power to become a literal demon within those who allow hate to grow in their hearts (mixed with some other stuff, but I'm not going to give the whole movie away). Hate encourages both humans and animals to kill. Ashitaka tries to convince both humans and animals to let go of their hate, stop killing, and live. The Great Spirit, also called the Night Walker, represents a Creator being, and is in charge of both life and death. He is supposed to be the only being in charge of creating life and taking it away.

Due to my Latter-day Saint background, I couldn't help but notice a similarity between Heavenly Father and the Great Spirit, and Hate and Satan. The Great Spirit is all seeing and all knowing, and is the only spirit/god to see Ashitaka for who he really is (the other gods fear and hate him simply for being human).The Great Spirit has a few moments of saving characters who have not reached their time, and allowing others to die when it is their time. Hate encourages killing of the "other," greed, and anger. Ashitaka seems to be the only character who truly understands that the Great Spirit is supposed to be the only being in charge of life and death, and it's that message that got me thinking about hate, life, and death in the real world.

Heavenly Father is the creator of life, and it is supposed to only His power to take earthly life away. But as Satan encourages hate among mankind, we end up killing each other and sometimes ourselves - this killing can be literal or emotional, fast or slow. Here are some common ways in which mankind kills:

• Murder
• Abortion
• Neglect
• War (Of course, there are times where war is necessary)
• Suicide (I understand suicide is very complex, and I know I am not an expert. I am not judging anyone who has taken their life or attempted to take their life, and I know that God knows what is in their hearts.)
• Over eating/under eating
• Over exercise/under exercise
• Seeking perfection
• Harmful words against others or oneself
• Working too much/not working enough
• Judging others or oneself

I'm sure more can be added to the list.

We need to let go of our hate for others or ourselves and live. Heavenly Father blessed us with life, we can thank Him by living our best life. No, we won't be completely free from trials, pain, and temptations, but we can use His help to overcome them or live through them, and find joy. No, I'm not perfect, and I'm not trying to look down on anyone. This movie simply touched me very deeply and I wanted to share my feelings about it. My hope and goal is to start ask myself when I am making a decision, "Does this decision allow myself and others it affects to live?"

If you have seen the movie, I would love to hear your thoughts about it. If you haven't seen the movie, watch it! It is so good!

 

Lily's Winter ONEderland

At the end of last year, Lily turned one! Oh my goodness, I can't believe it. At this point she says Mama, Dada, Hi, and lots of gibberish - but it's not gibberish to her, you can tell by her tone of voice and facial expressions that she knows what she is saying. She can stand for several seconds without support, she walks sideways with support; but she cries when we try to help her walk forward, she would rather crawl. She has only 5 teeth, which is weird for me because both Benjamin and Luna had all of their teeth by the time they were one.

With Lily being born two days after Christmas, we thought convincing other people to spend the time and energy to celebrate her Birthday would be difficult. But our friends and family surprised us and either came to her party, or still made an effort to send Birthday greetings. We appreciate everyone who wished Lily a Happy Birthday in some way.

Gerson's sister graduated from Weber State University two weeks before Lily's birthday, and the rest of Gerson's family came that weekend, so we had Lily's party then! I thought it would be fun to do a winter theme, and while I was searching Pinterest for ideas I found the winter onederland spelling and thought that was super cute.

We started the party crafting tree ornaments. The options were: snowflakes, snowmen, and penguins. It was really fun, and Benjamin and Luna loved it!

We had a snowman piñata. Benjamin was the oldest kid there at the time, and he couldn't break it open on his own. So my brother hit it a few times to weaken it, and Benjamin ultimately broke the piñata open! The final activity was pin the nose on Frosty. Everyone did a good job.

We had soup, rolls, chips, and chocolate covered strawberries for dinner. Lily had a cake all to herself, and cupcakes decorated with snowmen and snowflakes were served to everyone else. Benjamin and Luna both got really messy diving into their cakes when they turned one. Lily was so cute and dainty; she would pinch tiny bird seed sized pieces of cake and frosting and eat them! She still did get a little messy though.

We had such a fun time with everyone that all of my pictures are from after the party ended - they way it should be!