I just did a little dance in front of my balcony windows, looking at my reflection. Wearing a sleeping bag, bound around my shoulders with a piece of rope ( not for the occasion but because of the indoor temperature ), I felt like a superhero. Not literally, but the thought appeared and made me smile even more.
It might have to do with the fact that I'm listening to a lot of motivational talks again, these days - during a month of being extra focused on improving my health.
While dancing without shame, the wind kept raging outside, blowing the rain against my windows and house. I just had a nice improvised vegetable and chicken soup in my cosy little kitchen and said out loud:
"Do your thing, wind. Have some fun. Be yourself. I'm not stopping you"
I am grateful for the wind of reminding me of an amazing animated movie from Japan, called 'My Neighbor Totoro. I believe it's from 1988, 31 years old and I highly recommend it to both adults and kids ( even young ones ).
If you know the movie or watch it, you will understand why it was the wind that made me think of it.
My Neighbor Totoro is, without a doubt, one of my favorite movies. I probably have 200 favorite movies ( having seen an estimated 4000 to 5000 ) but that doesn't make it less special.
Dear storm,
Thank you for only switching off television ( not missed at all ) and wifi ( I still have my mobile Internet, every now and then ). Thank you for not switching off the power, so I will be able to watch this lovely feel good movie, projected on my wall by 'Epson', my beamer buddy, after posting this.
...
Suddenly it's very quite outside. Is the storm listening to me? Have I really developed superpowers?
All kidding aside, haven't you watched this film yet or have you not even heard of the Japanese animation legend - Hayao Miyazaki - who doesn't like to be compared to Walt Disney? No? Seriously?
In that case you have some catching up to do, catching up on plenty of great animated movies that even those who think they don't like animation will find worth watching. You might wanna start with this title though.
More info on the film can be found here: My Neighbor Totoro on Letterboxd
Here's a list of movies by Miyazaki ( and his team ): https://letterboxd.com/director/hayao-miyazaki/
My favorites ( besides My Neighbor Totoro ) are probably - in no particular order - the 2001 film Spirited Away ( most well known, even by my mom. Made the director famous outside Asia ), the 1996 Princess Mononoke ( not for kids ) and the 1984 post-apocalyptic Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind. All highly recommended.
I'm off to watch the wind. I mean, a movie. But, before I forget...
Letterboxd is a great, free tool to discover movies and - if you like lists - to log whatever you watch ( or check what others are watching ). If you're interested, you can find my account on there. I recently got back into updating whatever I see.
You find me here: https://letterboxd.com/Vinfilm/
If you're into movies, you might also like this post - A Close Up on Close up - a movie I highly recommend - that I wrote a couple of days back ( or scroll up on my timeline, to a long forgotten past ) or wanna check out the pages of @janenightshade @modernzorker @namiks @dedicatedguy to name a few film bloggers.
✨ Stay positive and be kind to yourself and others ❤
me with my improvised super hero cape,