When Patti Smith Writes About Nothing, And It's Everything
“I’m sure I could write endlessly about nothing.
If only I had nothing to say.”
It was a few days before Christmas.
I still had so much "celebrating" to do, but I wasn't in the mood for holiday cheer. I was maxed out. I was tired from a challenging yoga training, my house was a mess, and the weather was stormy.
It all added up to me wanting to stay nestled under the covers with a big mug of tea, reading a book about nothing.
Sometimes
Sometimes you just want to stay in bed.
Sometimes you've had enough of all your self-help books.
Sometimes you feel like no one's getting you.
Sometimes you're too tired to do laundry.
Sometimes you don't feel like learning.
Sometimes you wonder how you're going to survive all the damn holiday cheer.
Sometimes you feel like you've drifted very far away from yourself.
Sometimes you want to remember where you come from.
Sometimes you need to read Patti Smith rambling about nothing and everything, so it can remind you what it means to be a thinking, feeling, creating woman, and just be.
M Train
Black coffee and criminal detective tv dramas. That's M Train on first glance.
"Nothing."
But it's also about "everything."
It's the journaling of a woman who is still processing the loss of her husband, father of her two children. Still sifting the tender memories. Tending the wound.
It's an ode to a beloved coffee shop, a home away from home, a public space that has served as a safe harbor for private musings.
It's the explorations of a rock and roll legend, who is still learning, still turning the wheels, still feeling and creating and following her heart.
I opened the book because I felt I had nothing more to give.
I closed the book feeling full, reminded of the magic in the poet's imagination, and ready to get out of bed and try again.