"When an old hermit monk has his day interrupted by an uninvited guest, he is unwillingly taken on a journey to discover the true meaning of companionship."
This is one of the sweetest things I've ever watched, a beautiful digital animation.
I discovered this the other day and couldn't believe it hadn't already had hundreds of thousands of views, so I decided to see what I could do to change that.
When I first watched it there had only been 711 views since it was posted 18 months ago, I tweeted it, and shared it on Facebook, within 24 hours 150 people had viewed it. I took a look this morning & it now has 1,503 views!! That's 792 views, and over DOUBLE as many views as it had had in 18 months, in only 2 days... That is the power of social media!
So if you love this brilliant piece of art, if it touched your heart the way it touched mine, please share it with your friends, so that it can touch their hearts too!
Lets see if we can share this little treasure with hundreds of thousands of people, we can start by sharing it with the people we care about, so they can enjoy it too :)
I shared this blog over on Twitter and @J0n1 replied asking me a brilliant question- Which do you identify with most- the Monk or the puppy?
I wanted to steal it & add it into my blog but he beat me to it by leaving a comment below! :)
I still wanted to highlight this question nonetheless, because it's brilliant & genius, and thinking about this question as you watch it might just open up a whole new learning and discovery about parts of yourself that you didn't even know you had!
I'll place my answer in the comments below! Thanks Jon!!
Update: I asked Tom who created this beautiful video the same question on YouTube- I've shared his answer in the comments for you below
P.S- It's now up to 4,114 views!! Keep sharing it :)
(That's nearly SIX times as many views in 6 days, as it had in 18 months!)
Update: 30th Dec (15 days) it has 8,981 views!!! Keep sharing it with everyone you know, it's brilliant!
Update: 18th January now has 14,213 views!! Awesome! Keep sharing the joy of companionship! :)
Update: 22nd April 2011 41,735 views :) Keep sharing this beautiful animation!
UPDATE! 15th July 2011 = 62,851 views :) Keep Sharing!
WOW! as of 14th April it now has 189,117! I love that we were at the start of what set the momentum rolling with this cool video animation! :)
as of 20th October 2012 is has 540,599!!! Love this little video, please share :)
Write a comment
Jon (Thursday, 16 December 2010 06:13)
My question is do you identify more with the monk or the puppy? I can't answer that question. I think on some days it would be the monk and that's great because it will prompt you to be more considerate about the feelings of others. On other days it would be the puppy because in many aspects of life your loyalty can become challenged by the indifference or rudeness of others who you care for.
Claire Boyles LifeMatters (Thursday, 16 December 2010 07:18)
Hey Jon,
thanks for the brilliant question! It's really made me think more deeply at the message in the film.
I certainly can identify with the Monk- I used to have the most adorable little dog called Sasha, but she was also an adhd kind of dog which meant that she'd jump up on me & scratch me with her paws, and every time we went for a walk she would wine & yelp & squeal as if it was the first time she was ever walked. She was adorable, is still adorable but I didn't have the patience she needed, she's happily living with my friend Sue. But I had her for 3 years, because I did't want to give up on her, just like the puppy with the Monk, I'm loyal. Sometimes way too loyal, in the past I stayed in a relationship for years longer than I probably ought to have, because of my loyalty to the person.
I've also learned that to make good friends in new places I need to be just like the eager puppy, keep on coming back to play, even though my new friends might not be able to play with me on that occasion!
Thanks Jon for inspiring me to think deeper about this beautifully made, inspiring animation :)
David Lurie (Thursday, 16 December 2010 10:42)
The music is beautiful :)
Marc P Summers (Friday, 17 December 2010 14:55)
I think I am the dog - remembering that rejection is never personal - and occasionally needing others to pick me up and help me out.
Claire Boyles LifeMatters (Sunday, 19 December 2010 05:20)
I asked Tom who created this video Jon's question on YouTube- Who did he most identify with, the Monk or the dog- this is his answer:
Hi Claire, thats a great question and i suppose it really depends on the individual as to who you most identify with. originally the monk was the main focus but you could almost say the plite of the puppy is more identifyable. i would say more people could empathise with being rejected when all they want was a friend. but saying that many people would have also been the one rejecting and eventually learning that they had lost someone special. Thanks again for your interest.
peter kinkead - film maker (Monday, 20 December 2010 21:29)
I used to reflect on a line from Rod KcKuen poem entitled Listen to the Warm, which goes "Sometimes we are moving so fast we miss the things worth stopping for!" In this case perhaps the Monk is moving so slowly he misses the thing worth stopping for!! For me the puppy represents all those moments when I was too busy or to preoccupied with my stuff to see the beauty in the moment of the puppy playing with me. So I guess I identified with the monk's rejection of the joy of living in the moment and making that part of his practice...When he realises what he has lost, he and the puppy get to experiewnce joy in the moment!! Great......lovely animation for a student film its high quality, and its got to win some award somewhere...