So why jouissance and what significance does it have?

My interest in jouissance was roused when I was attracted to book by the French Psychoanalyst Serge Leclaire a psychoanalyst who was one of the first to join Jacques Lacan in particular a collection essays called "A child is being killed"; on primary narcissism and the death drive.

The essay is about letting the child that the parents wanted to die in favour of the child that was actually given birth. Numerous times I have worked with clients who struggle to be themselves for fear of not being good enough.

One of his ideas about how the human psyche works or is acted upon is the idea of jouissance which is a French word which describes the existence of pleasure and pain which can be seen as a metaphor for life experience.

My take on this is to see jouissance as an expression of joy in our lives which is abundant, rude, patent, and beautiful in full bloom in adolescence upto the early twenties. After this time the natural energy of youth is not as strong and gets expressed in other ways which can be destructive or constructive.