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Once again my nose has found its way inside a really enjoyable and thought-provoking book. It’s called “Against Happiness,” and its written by Eric G. Wilson, an English professor at Wake Forest University. Though I’m not yet finished reading the book, I can sum up its main point like this:

The American culture is so happiness obsessed that we have forgotten what great value there is in melancholia. For one, being down in the dumps has led to many a brilliant expression in art, science and government. In addition, happiness doesn’t really make sense, nor can it be fully appreciate, without its antithesis.

The point isn’t to deliberately make one’s self feel bad or depressed. But, rather, that we should not be so quick to search for a quick-fix to our blues. To ignore them, deny them or run away from them is only to ultimately dull the shine of life.

As Wilson so eloquently puts it: “…to desire only happiness in a world undoubtedly tragic is to become inauthentic, to settle for unrealistic abstractions that ignore concrete situations.”

I’m for the pursuit of happiness as much as the next guy or gal, but this little book is a fine reminder that true joy exists only because there is also pain and despair.