Your Spine

Showed the boys a TED talk about storytelling by Andrew Stanton from Pixar. One of the points he makes is the need for each character to have a "spine". A "motivation" that drives everything he does. Nemo's father is all about keeping Nemo safe; Walley is all about finding beauty, and Woody is all about doing the right thing for his kid. Andrew then made the point that everyone is the same in the "real world". We all have our key motivations and should make an effort to understand them and be consistent with them. As a parent, he says that he understands that his kids' motivations are something he cannot (and should not) change. Instead, he should try to understand them and support them.

I asked the boys if they knew what their motivations were. They don't. And wouldn't expect them to this early in life... And I guess motivations change and evolve over time. Still, it is important to be sensitive to them. Why do we do what we do? Why do we want what we want?