By Audrey Teo //
I first watched Inside Out when I was in Secondary 4 — a time when I was struggling with academic pressure and social anxiety. I felt a deep connection with the character of Sadness, as my mood often dipped from the stress of exams and challenging social situations. Riley’s journey of learning to embrace Sadness encouraged me to accept my own — especially when there were clear triggers — and to welcome it as a signal to be kinder to myself.
Naturally, I was excited to catch the long-awaited sequel after nearly 10 years! Now that I’ve graduated from university, I find myself in a very different phase of life. The challenges of ‘adulting’ are hitting me hard, and I’ve transitioned from anxiety to grappling with identity and depression. This makes the sequel feel especially relevant, as it introduces a new range of complex emotions and explores themes of self-identity, growth, and mental health. Allow me to share my reflections on Inside Out 2 and how it resonates with my own journey (spoiler alert!).
An Ever-Evolving Self
I love how this sequel creatively introduces the concept of Riley’s sense of self. We follow Joy as she takes an elevator deep below headquarters to access Riley’s belief system. Each day, she transports a handful of memories and lays them in the waters. From each memory orb, a string of beliefs sprouts — some are affirming (e.g., “I’m a good person”) while others are dismissive (e.g., “I’m not good enough”).
This visualisation makes me reflect on the memories and emotions I feed into my belief system.
What memories am I subconsciously selecting and discarding? Which memories and emotions dominate my belief system?
At the start of the movie, Joy seems to handpick only happy memories, rejecting many difficult ones. Anyone familiar with the first film can sense the foreboding. Imagine a sense of self that knows only happiness or success; such a foundation can lead to a fragile identity and shallow self-worth that crumble during tough times — something we witness throughout the film. Suppressing challenging memories robs us of valuable lessons in resilience, empathy, and humility. From my own experience with overwhelming emotions, I’ve learnt that acknowledging difficult feelings and memories is an important starting point for change and self-compassion.
Understanding the link between emotions and beliefs helps me externalise how negative self-beliefs form. It encourages empathy as I recognise how easily difficult experiences can reinforce unhealthy beliefs. But what if we gave ourselves the space to re-colour — or ‘re-story’ — our experiences? Nobody is perfect, and it’s human to encounter a variety of situations, including both success and failure. Embracing both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ is essential for developing self-awareness.
An Authentic Mix
This idea of balance is echoed in the first movie, where we saw how too much of a ‘good’ thing can be detrimental. Allowing Joy to have total control eventually led to Riley shutting down and running away from home. The resolution of the first film emphasised the importance of embracing a beautiful, authentic blend of emotions.
This theme is explored with even greater nuance in the sequel, where a new character, Anxiety, plays a key role in inciting determination and encouraging healthy stress in Riley. Anxiety achieves this by instructing workers to brainstorm potential negative scenarios in a drawing room in Imagination Land. A certain level of anxiety reflects our care for something and can spark ideas to prevent failure. However, Anxiety also has a darker side, fuelling overthinking, negative thoughts, insomnia, and even panic attacks. Similarly, all the other emotions also possess dual functions.
In my own mental health journey, I’ve found it crucial to understand the role of different emotions and how to strike a balance — a dance between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. Regulating our emotions isn’t always easy; we may need strategies or support such as counselling, medication, and healthy routines. Through my struggles with depression and anxiety, I’ve learned the importance of being honest with myself when I sense that a particular emotion is dominating my experience (more reflections on that in my previous article: Journeying Towards Validation: Audrey’s Story).
Courage and Strength
This need for balance became increasingly clear as Riley’s struggles grew messier. For most of the film, she worked hard to hide her true feelings of fear and sadness, which only led to various out-of-character behaviours in her unsuccessful attempts to cope.
Eventually, she takes the courageous step of being honest with herself and her friends about her struggles. This scene struck a chord with me, reminding me of the times when I, too, had to summon my own courage — courage to face difficult emotions, to ride the waves of anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, and to regain control by getting back up again.
Towards the end of the movie, we witness Riley taking an even bigger step when, in the midst of challenging emotions, she calls on Joy to join her at the control panel of her mind. This moment represents her choice to actively embrace happiness, rather than passively allowing her emotions to dictate her actions. It signifies Riley’s newfound understanding that happiness can coexist with other feelings, such as sadness and anxiety. It’s a powerful moment of growth that reminds me of the strength I possess within myself to rise above my circumstances.
The Journey Continues
Life can be both predictable and unpredictable. Sometimes I feel in control, while other times I don’t. I’ve struggled with the discomfort of feeling stuck, aimless, or questioning everything I know about life. In those moments, I might feel scared, frustrated, or jaded — yet I’ve learnt to find a flicker of hope and curiosity. I want to continue embracing my evolving sense of self, acknowledging my authentic mix of emotions, summoning my courage, and recognising my inner strength.
Sometimes, I find it helpful to think of my life as a movie — or rather, a series of films, full of prequels and sequels.
There will always come a point where the main character hits rock bottom or faces challenges, but that’s never the end. I don’t expect a ‘happily ever after’ or perfection, but as long as I’m alive and breathing, I want to stick around to see what happens next.
Wherever you are and whatever you’re going through, I hope you channel your ‘main character energy’ and never, ever give up.
Audrey is a 25-year-old university graduate who has struggled with depression since 2019. Inspired by her own personal experiences, she has become a mental health advocate. Audrey hopes to continue sharing her stories and lessons learnt to encourage and inspire others.
Read more of our Tapestry Stories here.
Featured image source: Pixar Post