When Spirited Away Saved My Employment | Life and Work Lessons from Spirited Away
Chihiro from Spirited Away
Spirited Away is Studio Ghibli’s most Powerful Film.
Not just because of its gorgeous animation, award-winning quality, soothing and enchanted music, very-relatable characters and highly-relevant themes but also-
Because it teaches us a lesson on how we could deal with the harsh realities we face in our workplace and our environment.
WORK DURING COVID ERA
Let me tell you something personal about myself for a bit.
A couple of years ago, back when COVID lock-downs were still a thing, I found myself working at the Dementia Ward of an Aged Care Facility and I’m not gonna lie, on my first week, I felt like a lost child. I wasn’t used to the environment and everything was so unfamiliar. The tasks were very tedious and I was put under a lot of pressure because I had to keep up with the tight schedule and protocols of the facility otherwise the daily activities of our residents and my co-workers would be severely affected. As with many other form of work, I had to step up. It wasn’t an easy job and I know many of you watching this video probably have similar experiences in your own respective workplaces during the height of covid.
Two weeks in, thoughts of calling it quits and finding a new job was racing through my mind. During downtime on the rainy weekend that followed, however, I stumbled upon a clip on youtube about spirited away and then for some reason, I decided to just make a cup of coffee, take it easy, and just rewatch the show.
I’ve seen this Oscar-Winning Movie before but only during that certain weekend rewatch did I say to myself that, ‘Oh okay. I get it now.’
What is Spirited Away About
“Spirited Away” follows the story of Chihiro, a young girl who stumbled into a magical world ruled by otherworldly beings and spirits where everything was bizzare and unfamiliar. When her parents were transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro forced herself to work in Yubaba’s bathhouse to find a way to free them so they could return together to the human world.
And never have I ever related to a fictional character’s experiences as much as I did while watching Chihiro’s journey.
And it’s because her struggles served as an allegory and a mirror to what I was facing at work during that period.
In an interview, Hayao Miyazaki (the famous director of many Studio Ghibli films) described Chihiro as a brat. A young girl who was very naive. A person who was unfamiliar with responsibility and obligations. A girl who even dreaded the idea of going to her new school. Which for her young age, was very understandable.
Spirited Away revolves around the idea of putting someone unskilled and inexperienced in a challenging environment, in a not so brave new world, filled with people who have varying personalities who could either make your life easy or make your life a living hell. So basically, it’s like going to work on a monday morning.
I watched our main character make silly blunders and painful mistakes in her first day. And when I watched this kid when she finds herself in her new quarters, crying her eyes out to sleep as she readies herself for her first day, that really affected me.
And that really resonated with me because that’s exactly how I felt with that new job in the dementia ward after my disastrous and difficult first day, without the crying part of course. Because I didn’t cry… that much.
Spirited Away is many things but one of its core messages is something that deals with personal growth.
And for all of us, part of growing is having to face unfamiliar situations and take responsibilities that would test our limits, mental strength, and patience.
And in relation to that, here are the following lessons I have learned from Spirited Away:
1. You’re on your own.
Chihiro’s successful journey wouldn’t be possible without the help and kindness of others but there are a lot of moments when she needed to step up and figure things out on her own. She learned that she couldn’t rely too much on others anymore and that prompted her to take initiative and take charge. Forming her own decisions and facing the results of her actions. And having this realistaion. The acceptance of this sense of responsibility and self-accountability was shown by the show as Chihiro’s first step towards independence.
2. Pro-tip: Know what other people WANT. A lesson about self-interest
The second lesson Spirited Away taught me about life and you know, work, is that you need to know what people want. People are guided by their self-interest and you can find a way to work with them if you understand their motivations. Is your workmate motivated by ego, is your boss driven by his own idea of success? Is money the most important to this person or not? In spirited away, Kamaji was able to convince Lin to fully commit to helping out Chihiro when he offered her some skewered lizard. Even the main antagonist of the show who we know to be a lover of money gave Chihiro a hug when she was successful in cleansing the spirit and earning a lot of profit for the bathhouse.
If you know what people want and you can give what others desire, you can have power and influence over them and you can change the way they treat you. If done correctly and (*ehem) ethically, work would be a lot easier. Even at the beginning, Chihiro was able to land a job even when her boss didn’t want her in her company because at that time, she realised that Yubaba has a policy of not sending job applicants away if they insisted and in addition to that, she understood that Yubaba cared for her baby and by annoying her and the baby non-stop, Yubaba’s WANT & desire to have some quiet and peace of mind finally prompted her to hand Chihiro a work contract just so she could get her to shut up.
3. It gets easier
Another thing that Spirited Away taught me is the fact that many things that are difficult at first will get easier later on. Practice and repetition works wonders. And for unfamiliar and trying situations, we humans have this inner power that we can find and use to carry ourselves from day to day if we really look deep enough.
4. We enter Dungeons to get the Gold
Lesson number 4 deals with the idea that you can learn many things from places you didn’t want to look. Sometimes, when you face the things you didn’t want to face, that’s when you gain the most experience and growth, which can be considered as valuable as gold. And sometimes, in order to get the gold, you must first conquer a dungeon and face a dragon. In our protagonist’s case, Chihiro’s new world was terrifying and dangerous, but she would never have found her inner strength and courage if she had not been placed in that difficult environment. It’s a lesson about how what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. If you want to gain knowledge and experience, it is sometimes necessary to leave your comfort zone and move away from what’s familiar. Sometimes, it’s okay to be uncomfortable. Spirited Away taught me the importance of accepting the challenge and knowing how to FACE THE WORLD.
5. The Power of Names
Another great lesson we can learn from spirited away is that we should newer forget who we are. Our image and our identity. In her journey, our protagonist’s name was taken from her, turning her from Chihiro to Sen. In the workplace, people also face this kind of self-alienation, being considered as code, a number, or a statistic—a cog in the machine. We do what we have to do in order to survive, but Spirited Away teaches us that there is also power in names and identity. We are not just defined by what we do for a living, but also by our aspirations, our good acts, our sense of belonging and completion, and our character. Spirited Away shows us that despite the chaos of our environment, the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and the dangers we face each day, we must never forget who we are and what we stand for—our roots, our baseline, our identity, and what we represent and believe in. These values will guide our decisions and choices. I believe that if we know who we are and stay true to ourselves, we will never be lost, no matter where we are in this world.
6. Be Kind
The last lesson we’ll cover in this video is probably the simplest one. Spirited Away teaches us how to be kind. It is a mysterious and terrifying movie that gave me nightmares and daydreams when I first watched it as a teenager. It came to me as an enigma, something I could never truly understand on my first watch, yet something I found very appealing. Initially, I couldn’t pinpoint why this movie felt so special, but I later realised that it is a fascinating work of art that uses characters and symbols to mirror the situations, feelings, and emotions we experience in the real world. Throughout the movie, we learn that we can navigate our journey in no small part due to the kindness of others— Kamaji, Lin, the Radish Spirit, even Yubaba’s twin. Without their kindness, Chihiro would not have reached her victorious position at the end of the movie. And the person who helped her the most in her otherworldly adventure was Haku. Haku not only showed her kindness, compassion, and mercy, but he also showed her love. At the end of the movie, Chihiro remembered how she met Haku years ago when she fell into the Kohaku River. She recalled his kindness then, with his gentle and caring waves pushing her safely back to shore. Through this realization, she was able to help him remember his identity, giving him the chance to regain himself and become whole again.
Spirited Away showed us that kindness and love are forms of energy. They are never wasted and they always find their way back to where they belong. And the person who gives love and kindness to others, in some shape or form, will always be rewarded. That is why, no matter how harsh the environment is, we must not forget to always be compassionate and kind. If others treat us in the wrong way, especially in the workplace, we must strive to be better than them and not commit their mistakes. No matter the situation we can always try our best and do better.
Closing Remarks
At the end of the movie, we saw how Chihiro passed the final test, thus, earning the freedom of her parents. A triumphant farewell took place between herself, her friends, and Haku. And these two friends bid their goodbyes with the promise of seeing each other again in the future. So, Chihiro finally managed to cross the border without looking back, and when she finally reached safety, the screen slowly zoomed in to her face, making her appear to the audience as someone closer and somewhat larger on screen, symbolising her successful development and growth. And when her father mentioned the difficulties of living in a new city and a new school, Chihiro finally responded, saying, I think I can handle it. She has definitely grown up indeed.
In more ways than one, Spirited Away is a very special and powerful show to me. It gave me comfort, confidence, and courage during a difficult period of my life due to my problems at work. And after that certain Spirited Away rewatch on that rainy afternoon, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and, with a calm heart and mind, said to myself, "If Chihiro can do it, then maybe I can do it too.”
That’s it for this video. Thanks for watching. See you next time.
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