Water for Life – What I’ve learned from Sisu of Raya and The Last Dragon

By now, many of us have decided we can’t ? Wait for it ? and paid the $29.99 for Raya and The Last Dragon. The June 4th Disney Plus included in the subscription release seems like a lifetime away.

So without giving a full-on recap of the movie ( I don’t even think I could review a film without my better half anyway), here are my thoughts.

Raya and The Last Dragon and my family’s reaction to the film have filled my crown with so many “dragon” gems. Let me start off by saying I’m so grateful Disney continues to give us timely lessons. We are fast approaching the one-year mark of the pandemic. We are almost 5yrs into finding out how 70+ mil Americans feel about diversity. Can I just say I’m tired, y’all, and couldn’t agree with Drake more when he said, “No new friends.” Hell, some family members didn’t even make the cut. I’m even looking at states differently. (Y’all know who y’all are, ol’ full capacity peeps)

But in enters, as bright as a clear sky, Sisu, The Water Dragon. She is a mixture of childlike innocence and ancient wisdom. True to her name, Sisu even moves fluidly, more like water and less like a rock. In a movie where even the baby Noi has trust issues, Sisu was a reminder that kindness is so gangsta.

Watching Sisu, who lost so much thanks to humans, still hope, seeing her trust, and be willing to learn. Hearing Sisu asks countless times, “Why me?” made me ask myself, “Why not me?” While watching her, something inside of me woke up from a deep slumber. I miss not having to figure out someone’s angle. I genuinely miss not having to focus solely on my immediate family. While watching this movie, I almost forgot that we lost our sh*t over toilet paper last year, literally and figuratively. For a moment, I forgot that All-Star Weekend clubs are hosting super spreader events.

And as much as I missed that in me, I watched my little girl who once loved hugs so much she could’ve given Olaf a run for his money, call out every double-cross before it even happened.

Could our Kumandra ever be restored?

Have we poisoned the water?

Have we not only poisoned the water around us but the water inside of us?

I can go on forever about the benefits of water (queue water has memory scene from Frozen: Into the Unknown, Olaf be knowing). Even though the benefits are clear, I still don’t drink enough of it; my concerts, I mean showers, are entirely too long, but I digress.

Sisu was the splash of cold water to the face I needed. From now on, I have to ask myself WWSD (What would Sisu do?). Am I still going to wonder if the person at the grocery was at the club or a rally the night before? Probably but I will also wonder if they miss their family or if they lost their job. Most importantly, I will remember that regardless of their “tribe,” they are as important a part of the dragon as I am, like the yin to my yang or talon to my fang.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it took a dragon to remind me to be more human and that I am made of water, not stone. My point of view, although rock solid, isn’t more important than the next person’s, and that much like Sisu, I need to remember that we too have all been chosen. That may be by a smile, word of encouragement, or a genuine question we can allow some things to be water under the bridge.