I admit, sometimes Patti Smith's references go over my head and on more than one occasion I had to look up an author, poet, or novel to help me attempt to understand what she was talking about or how it related to her prose.
"M Train," is still written in the good ol' Patti Smith style and there was one chapter, or vignette that struck a chord in me. She writes about how Fred (her late husband) liked to live as if the clock has no hands. For me, I live this way. Not in a sense that I am late for appointments or think deadlines are arbitrary, but that time ages you and feeds the monster of procrastination. Yes, I am older and I do not devote as much time to my artistic endeavors, but I am always looking for avenues to express myself (This is a blog post, right?) And the drive I have to create is still in me and I don't think it will ever go away. My interests have changed and my desire for a large audience has diminished, but I still like makin' stuff. This theme was carried throughout the book along with how she spends her days.
Patti is really into solitude. I find that as I get older I do not want to spend my time alone so much. I mean yes, I want "me" time and blah, blah, blah. But I like interacting with people I care about.
Being a parent has also encouraged me to introduce adventures to my daughter. I want to travel with her and watch her reaction to experiences. Not all experiences have to epic; a sunset, jokes (usually at Papa's expense) at the grocery store, or drawing silly pictures all work for me. Yes, I want to take my kid to see the Eiffel Tower or the Trevi Fountain, but she rode her bike for the first time at the cemetery by our house and she had a blast. To me they are the same(ish).
I got into a game on my smart phone a few months ago. It was one of those Candy Crush kind of games. I played it for over a month and I realized that I was spending a lot of my free time playing it. I got irritated with myself and deleted it. I have no idea what it was called and I don't miss it. I don't want to spend that much time looking at my phone. Not sure what my point was...Oh yeah! Even though most of my work day is spent talking to people, I don't crave solitude. Experiences with others is my game.
My grandmother taught me that life happens in cycles and is fluid. Consequences of a circumstance can alter how one's current cycle is proceeding and many people do not like the changing of cycles and have a hard time with the transition.
I don't want to use the blanket statement that I am enjoying the simple things in life, because yes, I am, but no, it is more complicated than that.
So Patti I agree with you, it is hard to write about nothing.
Thanks for the read.
