“Joie de Vivre” – The joy of living. This is something that I’m sure we all can agree is a good thing. We should all be able to experience joy in our lives. I suppose the real debate here is what exactly is it that brings joy to life. Philip Lopate basically discusses his own personal experiences with each of the things that people most commonly turn to to find joy in this life. He goes from an artist’s houseboat, to fancy dining, to drugs, and to sex. My favorite part about this piece of literature is that I felt like Lopate was being real when he was writing. He wasn’t just fabricating feelings to make for a good read, but he was simply writing how he genuinely feels about each of these things. He’s not afraid to step out and say things that aren’t commonly said.
Ultimately, it’s unfortunate to read that Lopate never really finds a source of joy in his life. It seems as though the message he’s trying to convey is that there really isn’t a way to bring joy to yourself. We live in an imperfect world and you just have to do the best with what you get.
