The Importance of Being Sad
In defense of a demonized emotion
Published in
Oct 19, 2020
These are just a few of the things that make Carvell Wallace sad: “Michael Jackson, our family dog, my son’s eyes when he was a toddler, my daughter’s first bicycle. The Oakland Raiders, The Golden State Warriors, gentrification, mediocre hamburger restaurants, Midtown Manhattan on a Sunday, people delivering food in the snow, sunsets.”
There are others—many others. Wallace has always been sad, a character trait that invited scorn and judgment from others: not as manly as anger, not as artistic as depression. Yet, he’s come to embrace his melancholia. “I’ve faced hunger and violence and pain and survived,” he writes. “If you can do all that, and also face sadness, then I think there is no power you cannot have, no fight you cannot wage.”
