Joy and Pain

I finally saw The Fault in Our Stars the other day. I thought that the movie was true to the book but wasn't long enough to include all the scenes that I loved. But I guess no one else would be interested in a 10 hour movie.

One of the things they left out was the discussion of whether we need to experience pain in order to know joy. In the book Hazel repeatedly says she doesn't believe this: "the existence of broccoli in no way affects the taste of chocolate." I thought that this was such a compelling argument that for awhile I forgot all of the research I've read that supports the joy-pain connection.

Hazel worries about how her death will hurt the people who love her. She is afraid that her parents won't have a life after she dies. She pushes Augustus away because she doesn't want to be a grenade. But Augustus cannot be dissuaded: "you don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, but you do have some say in who hurts you."

This whole joy and pain thing is actually why I have so much trouble with endings. I look forward to having the summer off but by the 2nd day of summer I start obsessing about how my vacation is running out. I suffer from existential anxiety about death and aging. Even coming to the end of books like this one is difficult because I don't want to have to say good-bye to characters like Hazel and Augustus.

When I read the book I didn't fully appreciate Hazel's obsession with knowing what happens to the characters at the end of "An Imperial Affliction," which ends in mid-sentence because the narrator dies of cancer. But after watching the movie, I understand. Hazel wants reassurance that life will go on for her parents after she dies.

I've always thought that life was kind of cruel in this way. My heart may be broken but the world doesn't seem to care. Life goes on, despite my pain. It's kind of insulting, really.

But now I think it's a good thing. Life isn't like a book or a movie that begins with joy but ends with pain--and wisdom. Life is more like a series of stories, where we have more joy--and pain--ahead of us. More people to love. More summers to look forward to.  More books to read. So I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I think this doodle looks like lightning bugs.