The new crew on a teen’s emotional console

Q: Archbishop J, what happened to my little princess? (part II)

We last looked at the brain of the child and the five emotions that were very active—joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger. Each of these is vital for Riley to live a well-integrated life. Inside Out 1 & 2, the Pixar movies are worth viewing as a family with children and teens.

As stated before (July 7 column), the movie gives the language for conversation about the relationships between the parents and Riley, their daughter, and the relationship between parents.

There is so much going on in our heads all the time that we do not realise the complexity of our interaction. For children, this is difficult enough, but for adolescents, things get a lot more complicated. But with the development of media in all its forms, the emotions of adolescents are far more complex.

The working of the mind

Early in the movie, we learn that the personality islands formed by memory are still there at 13. Family island has become small while friendship island has become exceptionally large. We also learn that deep in the unconscious, memories form beliefs and these become the core of personality or the sense of self. This is what helps Riley make good choices.

We also learn that joy has a mechanism to get rid of unpleasant memories. This enrols the whole team in this activity—taking the unpleasant memories and moving them to the back of the mind.

Carl Jung would call this shadow. The shadow is populated with all the things that we cannot accept about ourselves—our fears, our mistakes, our embarrassments, the things that cause us shame. Some memories go to shadow where they are hidden away. Others go to long-term storage where they can be recalled when needed.

This is an important point of development. When we send memories to shadow, we avoid the process of integrating and so we develop only part of our personality. Un-lived life gathers energy. The things in shadow feed out fixations and appetites and undo us eventually.

In part 1, Joy had to learn that Sadness was vital to Riley’s development. In part 2, we have to learn that each memory, emotion, and belief is vital for the flourishing of the person.

We also learn there is a belief system where precious memories are taken every day. These memories grow cords back to the command centre to form the core of Riley’s beliefs and ultimately her personality. The mind is a precious gift, and healthy habits are vital for a healthy personality.

Puberty

In the movie when the puberty buzzer goes off, all hell breaks loose. A demolition crew comes in to bring a new console. They also announce they are making way for the new people. Every emotion on this new console is exaggerated.

Then we meet the new members of the team. First, Anxiety to protect her from the scary stuff that she cannot yet see, then Envy which makes us want what others value or seems valuable, Embarrassment to protect from awkward social situations, and finally Ennui which is French for tired and boredom or lack of energy. It signals the need to recharge the internal battery.

When faced with keeping her beliefs and values or fitting in with the new girls, Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui win out. Anxiety says to Joy: “Riley’s life is more complex now; she needs more sophisticated emotions than all of you.”

They bottle the old emotions and send them out of headquarters. Anxiety takes over headquarters and banishes Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Anger from headquarters in a large bottle. They become bottled emotions.

Riley becomes far more self-aware. She doubts her natural goodness and implodes. We have all seen puberty undo a stable normal teen throwing them into self-doubt and confusion.

I want to state from the outset the dynamic between the emotions in Inside Out 2 is a very modern version of puberty that has been exacerbated by a secular media culture. The movie depicts anxiety at the helm without the more stable emotions and what happens is a full anxiety meltdown.

The resolution comes when joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger bring all the banished emotions from the shadow into the space of the sacred memories that form beliefs. Then all the emotions—the good, the bad and the ugly—are integral to Riley’s sense of self and core beliefs.

Sacred mystery

Remember, puberty is a mystery that God has hidden in each person. Through it, we metamorphosise from one stage of our journey to the next. It is all part of God’s plan of deep transformation hidden until the right time for our full development.

The movie betrays the culture’s way of dealing with puberty—hyper anxiety that leads to change in character and ultimately to loss of belief in self.

The Christian way of understanding puberty is initiation into sacred mystery. It is an invitation to enter the mystery hidden in our body and all the rapid changes as part of our initiation into the sacred mystery that is God.

I understand the dynamic of the movie and see it as especially important to understand what is happening in our adolescents. However, what is being reproduced reflects the culture that Disney and all media have willingly created where being liked, being cool and fitting in is the highest value.

If we understand that the culture is not what God intended, then we understand the movie as a true reflection of our current adolescent culture and the extreme pressures on our young.

Formation

For all our young people, I have advocated for them to have a sacred practice. Meditation in the morning and the Examen at night. What the movie does not highlight is the spiritual development of the teen and how that anchors the sense of self and the core belief system.

Through meditation, a child or teen learns to sit still in God’s presence and to yearn for God more than life itself. This is how your teen creates a space between stimulus and response.

My experience is that our young people take to meditation very easily and enter very deeply. If they have a practice of meditation, then they have a place to go to when anxiety takes the console.

Also, they have resources and beliefs that transcends themself. Through meditation, the soul is drawn towards the divine which anchors the personality in the transcendent not just in beliefs about self.

The Examen is a gym for the conscience. If someone does the Examen every day, they begin to discern God’s will in real time. When anxiety, envy, embarrassment, and ennui take over the console and begin unravelling the personality, the Examen is a useful practice to ensure the teen gets back on track, finds their centre, and recognises where they went wrong—sin.

Our present teen culture is far more volatile than anything we had to grow up with. Let us give our youth the best formation for their belief system so that they may be well integrated.

Key Message:

Puberty in our age is hyper charged with difficult emotions. We need to give our young people a depth of prayer encounters to anchor them in the Truth which is Jesus Christ.

Action Step:

Introduce your children and teens to Christian Meditation and the Examen. Help them commit to daily practice.