Joie de Vivre Should Be a National Pastime
People have been calling me a Francophile for as long as I can remember, somewhat derisively as I recall. I speak a little French, paint in the South of France, linger over meals, and romanticize the light in Provence. Guilty as charged.
What I did not realize until recently is that there is a second accusation that goes with it, one I have heard just as often: “Miles, you are just full of joie de vivre.”
I never put those two things together. Until now. A recent study changed that, and I think joie de vivre should be a national pastime.
The French Are Wired for Ordinary Pleasure
The study showed something that stopped me mid-scroll: France has one of the lowest rates of depression in the developed world despite having one of the most demanding work cultures in Europe. The researchers pointed to one primary differentiator, the French relationship with ordinary pleasure.
Not vacation. Not achievement. Not peak experiences. Ordinary pleasure. A coffee at a cafe table. A two-hour lunch. A walk that goes nowhere in particular.
The neuroscience is straightforward. The brain’s dopamine system is not wired for constant highs. It is wired for contrast. Moments of genuine rest and sensory pleasure reset the baseline. The French are not happier because life is easier. They are happier because they have institutionalized the pause.
Why Did America Skip This?
We turned productivity into a personality. Busyness became a status symbol. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is something people say proudly. We built a culture that treats rest as laziness and pleasure as indulgence, then wondered why anxiety and depression are at historic highs.
Joie de vivre is not a luxury. It is a neurological maintenance routine. And we have been skipping it for 50 years.
Men Jumped Out of Airplanes to Protect It
I just came back from Normandy. Standing where paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne dropped into the dark on June 5, 1944, you feel the weight of it differently than any history book prepares you for.
Those men, most of them 19, 20, 21 years old, jumped into occupied France to push back against a force that would have extinguished everything the French way of life represents. The cafe culture. The long lunch. The art. The wine. The unhurried conversation. The dignity of the ordinary moment.
They did not have a word for what they were defending. But joie de vivre is exactly it.
So Yes. Call Me a Francophile.
I have spent years chasing that feeling, in France when I can get there, and at home whenever I can create a version of it. A long dinner with no agenda. A morning with a sketchbook and nothing to prove. A conversation that does not need to end in a decision.
I thought it was a personality quirk. Turns out it is good medicine. The study just gave me the receipts.
What Are You Letting Slip By?
What moments of genuine, unhurried pleasure are you letting pass? Not the Instagram moments. The real ones, the ones that do not make it into any post, that happen in the quiet between tasks.
Those are the ones worth capturing. The ones worth passing on. That is exactly what we built Reflekta for.
FAQ
What does joie de vivre mean?
Joie de vivre is a French phrase meaning “joy of living.” It describes a cheerful enjoyment of life, a pleasure in simple everyday moments rather than achievements or peak experiences.
Why do the French have lower rates of depression?
Research points to the French cultural emphasis on ordinary pleasure, long meals, leisure, and rest as a neurological reset. The brain’s dopamine system thrives on contrast, and the French have institutionalized the pause in ways most Western cultures have not.
Is joie de vivre something you can practice?
Yes. It starts with small, intentional moments: a real lunch away from your desk, a walk without a destination, a conversation with no agenda. The practice is the point.
What does Normandy have to do with joie de vivre?
The paratroopers who jumped into Normandy on D-Day were defending France and everything it represents, including its way of life. Joie de vivre is arguably what they were protecting without having a name for it.
What is Reflekta and how does it connect to this?
Reflekta is an AI-powered platform for capturing and preserving personal and family stories, the everyday moments of joy, connection, and meaning that deserve to be passed down to future generations.
About the Author
Miles Spencer is the co-founder and CEO of Reflekta.ai, a platform for intergenerational storytelling and legacy preservation. He is the author of A Line in the Sand and Havana Famiglia, a watercolor artist who paints in the South of France, and a former paratrooper who just returned from Normandy. He writes about adventure, legacy, and what it means to live a story worth telling.
Hashtags: #MilesToGo, #JoieDeVivre, #Francophile, #Normandy, #Legacy, #Wellness, #HumanStories, #Reflekta
