In Brian Doyle’s “Joyas Volardores”, he presents the idea that life is short and although there is heart break and bad things happening, people should live life to the fullest in community with one another. He uses animals such as the hummingbird and the whale to depict his idea of living life to the fullest. He names this work “Joyas Volardores”, which means flying jewels.  This title not only is the Native American’s name for hummingbirds, but also a symbol for how people should look at life. In this work, the Latin idea, Carpe Diem, and lessons about living in community flow throughout this entire piece. By looking at the lives and heart beats of hummingbirds and whales, readers can see why it is important to seize the day and open their hearts to other people. This is important because it can create a more social community with healthier relationships which would beneficial to the world. 

Doyle titles the work “Joyas Volardores” which means flying jewel; this is important because the central idea if this work is to capture every moment because life is like a precious jewel. He is instructing the reader to value life and view it as a jewel. As the reader looks closer at the heart of the hummingbird they learn that, “the price of their ambition is a life closer to death” (Doyle 95). The hummingbird’s ambition is the sweet nectar they search for, but when they cannot find the nectar that they love, they die. This is also true for people. When people grow older and they stop doing the things that they love, they die. This death is not a physical death, but a mental death. Mental death happens when a person stops doing what they love or loses a part of them that is so special they are no longer the same person. They lose touch with who they really are. Doyle explains that “it’s expensive to fly. You burn out. You fry the machine. You melt the engine” (95). Doyle means that the hummingbird knows that their constant and frantic search for food will eventually kill them, but they do not care because it is what they love to do. The average creature has about “two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime. You can spend them slowly like a tortoise and live to be two hundred years old or you can spend them fast, like the hummingbird, and live to be two years old” (95). Doyle is explaining that it does not matter how people live their life just as long as they enjoy the life they live. People should live in a way that makes them happy and do what they want to do with their life. Life is meant to be enjoyed and a life that is squandered on unsatisfying things is a life wasted. People should live by the Carpe Diem mantra to seize the day. This Latin maxim depicted in this work is not merely an idea to live for the present and forget about the future. This saying is the idea to live for today in light of tomorrow; make the most out of right now and use the time that is given wisely. 

The hummingbird life goal is to enjoy every second in life, but the blue whale’s life goal is to build strong relationships with other whales. According to Doyle, the blue whale has the biggest heart in the world and these animals desire relationships with other whales to enjoy life with (95). The heart of the blue whale is so big in fact that a child could walk through it. It is very interesting how little science knows about this massive animal and that “the animals with the largest hearts in the world generally travel in pairs, and their penetrating moaning cries, their piercing yearning tongue, can be heard underwater for miles and miles” (96). Blue whales have this deep desire to be in relationships with each other and they cry across the entire ocean to fulfill their need to live in community. These great animals use their voices to communicate their feelings to other whales that they live in community with. As society has become increasingly engrossed in technology, it is important now more than ever for people to live in community with each other. People have become distant and have lost the community that they are meant to live in. As the lives of whale are examined, it becomes evident that living in community with others makes life more enjoyable. People should apply the lessons learned from whales to their lives and build relationships and community. People were not designed to take on the world alone. They were designed to find people in the world to love that is why they have a desire to have friendships and find a spouse. Although heart break and pain are very real, having a community of people to help support each other makes the pain easier to cope with. As people find community, they will begin to feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves and they are making a difference in the world. 

Carpe Diem and building a strong community are lessons that people can learn from the lives of the hummingbird and the whale. Carpe Diem sounds like just another cliché, but actually it is a sophisticated proverb to live by. Enjoying life and capturing every moment is a lifestyle that people should embrace with a community of friends. Many people have issues with relationships because having a strong relationship means letting people in to their life which can be scary. Letting people in allows people to know everything about them which for some people who have been mistreated and hurt this is hard. Because “so much held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a heart in a day, an hour, a moment”, opening up to others can be really scary (96). There are so many emotions that are held in a person’s heart and it is hard for people to open up to others because when they do they are incredibly venerable. Doyle says, “we are utterly open with no one in the end”; however, this is not the case. When people live in community, they have strong relationships in the end. If people built a community and opened up to others, they would see that when heart break does come and they face challenges their friends are there to back them up and help them through their hardship.  

By looking at the lives of both hummingbirds and whales, people can learn lessons on how to enjoy life as well as create a better community. Hummingbirds sprint through life enjoying every second even though their lifestyle is ultimately killing them; they would rather just die than be unable to do what they love. Whales enjoy life by creating relationships and building community with other whales. As a society, people should combine the lifestyles of both animals by enjoying life with a group of people that will build them up as they navigate life. “Joyas Volardores” is about enjoying life to the fullest by taking captive of every moment and by living in community with others. 
