Jack Gilbert

The Courage to Stubbornly Accept Our Gladness

Translating the imperative into habit begins small. We can schedule deliberate savoring—one unhurried meal, a walk attentive to sound and light—so gladness becomes a rhythm, not a rare event. We can curate our information diet, pairing necessary witness with intervals of rest. Sharing specific, concrete joys with others turns private pleasure into communal resilience. And making something—two lines in a notebook, a photograph, a soup—grounds delight in action, where it can survive the day’s weather. [...]

Choosing Joy: A Stubborn, Necessary Risk

Ultimately, risking delight is not a denial of the furnace but a way to carry water through it. We can hold grief in one hand and gratitude in the other, letting neither cancel the other. As Albert Camus reflected in Return to Tipasa (1952), he discovered ‘in the midst of winter, an invincible summer within me.’ Gilbert’s counsel echoes that discovery. By practicing a stubborn acceptance of gladness, we keep alive the human faculty that refuses to be extinguished—the one that, even in ashes, looks up and dares to call what is good by its name. [...]