As quoted and referenced by de Botton, William Wordsworth once said, “There are in our existence, spots of time / that with distinct pre-eminence retain a renovating virtue …/ that penetrates , enables us to mount / when high, more high, and lifts us up when fallen”.  Essentially, that scattered elements and memorable experiences make up the best and most worthwhile parts of life. When de Botton talks about it I believe that he is trying to convey that the bits and pieces that stick with people throughout their life, although they stay, there are so many parts of our life that we are not able to remember. Take the womb, for example. We exist, our little lungs and fingers forming very slowly over a fresh heart, but none of us have any memory of that warm and comforting darkness. So when de Botton talks about our human tendency to get lost in such “spots in time”, I do not believe that he is trying to say that there are moments where we physically do not exist, but perhaps moments where we are so incapsulated in the mundane routine that can become life, we fail to exist for those specific spots of time. We fail to be present within our own lives because we become absorbed within trivial things. We forget to watch the sunset, to call our parents and tell them how much we appreciate them, the list goes on and on. de Botton often conveys through the novel, that once you have truly traveled and made your own journey, be it spiritual or physical, you are able to make these “spots of time” that he speaks of the kind of spots that you carry with you and are always able to remember.

Therefore, the quote by Van Gogh on page 184 of the Eye Opening Art section of the book really caught my eye – ” I believe that life here is just a little more satisfying than in many other spots.”. When Van Gogh said this he was talking about his time living in Arles. Knowing the history of Van Gogh’s crippling depression as well as a harsh and lonely life, I found this quote to be particularly interesting. I never usually hear anything positive regarding Van Gogh quotes. They are usually very melancholy and sad. But to hear him mention a better quality of life, to hear him speak of a place that could make him happy and distract him from his troubles, just for a little while, I find to be extremely special. de Botton talks a lot about how Van Gogh’s art and interactions with the world were so striking and unique because he had such an artistic ability to focus in on the fine details, like beautiful colors or passionate emotions, and to blow them up and express them. This ties in with his comments in the Departure section – that of the healthy mind’s artistic ability to try and dig deeper, to investigate and fully explore and enjoy moments when they come.

Furthermore, reading about de Botton and van Gogh’s time spent traveling or living in France also made me think of the experiences that I had visiting France with my mother — it was absolutely incredible to be so young and experience a place that was dripping with history in every corner. To visit the Eiffel Tower, the L’arch de Triumphe, to experience the richest foods and such kind and beautiful people at such a young age truly changed me. I believe that if I had not been able to have the experience of going to such a beautiful and forgeign country, I would not have the urge to travel as I do now. Seeing Paris only made me want to eat the world and swallow it whole. To see all it had to offer me and all that I could take from it. The memories that my mother and I shared for those few weeks in France are some that I will never forget. Experiencing trains and learning about some of my roots was incredibly important for me as a young child and I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity.  All in all, this created a lot of memorable moments. While de Botton argues that people’s lives are dulled where their experiences of travel are purely on the basis of surface-level tourism, I think that even just dipping one’s toes into a place or culture and visiting its more popular attractions shouldn’t be ruled out as being less than extremely fulfilling and rewarding because of the memories it creates.