Joy List

Junior really seems to have an epiphany in the second half of the book. He's been struggling to find confidence and to achieve acceptance in Reardan, and the deaths of his family and friend are only complicating the issue. To get over his sense of hopelessness, he creates a list of all the things that bring him joy. I found that to be quite odd. I know everyone has their own way of expressing themselves, but writing out a list like that would not crack my top 100 ideas for curing depression. I feel like if I need to actually take the time to write out the individual things to remind myself what I appreciate and enjoy about life, then I don't fully appreciate them.

To me, if I have to actually write it out, it shows that I have to see it to remember and appreciate it, whereas if I could just think to myself about it, it would show that I don't need to rely on anything else to be happy. It makes me feel like I'm the one in charge, that I decide how feel on my terms, not anyone else. If something truly brings you joy, you should be able to reflect upon it at any time in any place without any outside influence. I'm sure some people who read this will find my logic a bit strange, but that's also the way I feel about the way Junior went about things. I just think that the need to write it out demeans it.