C’est la Vie: A Writer’s Perspective

There are about seven hundred sixty-two moments a day where I stop and think, “hey, that would make a good blog. I should write about it.” Of course, seven hundred sixty of them get fizzled out within a minute or two, but a couple remain by the end of the day.

Lately, I take those two ideas to bed, think about them for a minute, then pass out and forget them forever. Should I be sad about that? Maybe. But then again, I’m a writer. It’s sort of my job to recognize when thoughts are worth trapping and when they belong floating in the void of the long-forgotten.

Today, one of those thoughts floated by, and I managed to narrowly grab it by the tail as it started to slither out. Here’s that thought:

“C’est la vie.”

Ever heard that before? It’s a French saying for “that’s life.” But it’s also more than that, isn’t it? If you say “that’s life” in English, it’s got sort of a negative connotation. In French, it’s more a philosophy of acceptance with a hint of hope in it. I find that both interesting and useful.

A Helpful Tip

See, just like I have over seven hundred moments a day where I stop and think, I have around an equal number of frustrating events happen. I stub my toe, I realize I forgot to send an email, a student walks in and calls me Mr. Testicle—you get the picture. It all adds up.

For a while, I’ve dealt with it by saying, “welp, that’s life.” Then I put my head down and get back to work. But lately, I’ve tried to change that. It’s not “that’s life”; it’s “c’est la vie.” It’s not “I have to deal with it, so I am.” It’s “life is hard, and I’m dealing with it.” I—am dealing with it.

It might seem silly, but it’s working. Besides, I’m convinced silliness is among the leading cures for being too adult.

(If you’re not a language nerd, you can stop here.)

For the Word Nerds

If you read on, and you’re not really a language nerd, this is your last chance. Back away slowly, and we’ll all pretend you never showed up. This is my final point. Notice the main difference between “c’est la vie” and “that’s life” is that one uses la, or the French word for “the,” and the other uses “is,” which is the English word for “is.”

So how does that change things? “The” is a definite article. “Is” is a verb meaning “to be something.” What I’m getting at here is that we don’t have to use French (even though it makes you sound super smart and romantic). Swap out the verb with the definite article in English, and you get a clearer view of what the French mean when they say “c’est la vie.”

Verb version: That’s life, or that is life. In other words, that is how life is.

Definite article version: That’s the life. Mmmm. Yeah. Feel the words. Much sweeter. More positive. More powerful, even. A string of words so tender we save them for the moments where we’ve reached peak existence. Kind of like being an author. For me, I finish writing a blog like this, sit back, take a deep sigh, and say it.

Ah… that’s the life.