Dictionary.com announced “Existential” as 2019 Word Of the Year. With reference to “Forky in Toy Story 4”, Josh Cooley, Director, told Dictionary.com: “Forky’s existential crisis resonates with audiences because we all think at one time or another, ‘What is my purpose in life?…Examining what it means to be alive through the googly eyes of a disposable utensil, used for soup, salad, or maybe chili, has us questioning our purpose beyond what we think we are and what we can be. The food is just the metaphor, but Forky’s journey is our journey, and he reminds us not to throw ourselves away!”
It resonates with many of us trying hard to find “our purpose in life”!
Jean-Paul Sartre’s famous quote sums up the sentiment of the word: “What is meant here by saying that existence precedes essence? It means, first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterward, defines himself. If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first, he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be.”