As humans or any sentient being for that matter, we have the natural instinct to want to belong. Belonging somewhere means you’re accepted, and when we don’t feel as though we belong, we feel vulnerable and outcasted.

However, belonging isn’t the kind of thing that is point-blank this or that, to feel like you belong can be grown over time and experience. This finds a connection with Spirited Away in the sense that belonging is a central motif that is highlighted all throughout the movie. For instance, No-face was somewhat of a foil character in regards to his purpose spotlight Chihiro’s flaws. One of which personifies Chihiro’s fear of abandonment, and later on in the movie that fear subsided when she finally acknowledged and accepted him. They belonged together.

The same notion can be applied to the film Lost and Found. In the film, Blair Somerville (the organic mechanic, the rustic automater, and tinkerer) confesses his purpose in life was to create “Fine Acts of Junk”. In the video, Blair showcases and walks through many of his inventions that he constructed with junk. Usually people don’t think great innovations can come from junk, which is why it’s facinating to see what Blair is doing. Yet the overarching idea of rustic automata is to take items that hold no connection to one another and curate a device with a purpose, meaning, and intention. When the items are manufactured, the sense of belonging is built along with it for the reason that the final product would not be what it is without each of the items.

Even though it is basically human nature to want to belong or fit in, amazing things can stem from things that don’t belong. A great example of this is the Mojave Phone Booth. The Mojave Phone Booth is a phone booth seemingly displaced in the Mojave Desert. Especially for being in the middle of a desert where any other traces of connection were miles away, a phone booth just doesn’t belong in this setting. This is why it’s interesting to witness how captivated Godfrey (“Doc”) Daniels and thousands of other curious people around the world were.