A Christmas gift from Timothy (thanks again!).
Though I hadn’t followed Patti Smith on Instagram, her posts were like a little gift that would show up occasionally in my feed. Because of other things I liked? Because I follow or am followed by others on Instagram who follow her? I don’t understand algorithms; I just appreciate when I’m not inundated with posts relating to animal cruelty, animal death, animal illness. I can care, and I can and do donate to rescue organizations and to specific fundraisers, but that doesn’t mean I can deal with seeing more and more over and over.
I digress. Patti Smith was an occasional, serendipitous gift from one of the few social media sites where I find more peace than politics, more art than acrimony, more fun than friction–accompanied by photos!
Then I received this book and even before I opened it, I felt a connection with it. Then I read her Introduction, and it all sounded like words I’d been waiting to hear. Most pointed, it’s a book of DAYS. An entry per day of the year (and one thrown in for years with that extra February 29). Patti posts daily on her Instagram just as I post every day here, always with a photograph; I also try to present some photo or graphic with each of my blog posts, only she does it with more brevity and focus (look! a camera pun!).
Before his shop closes as he shifts his focus to other creative endeavors, I ordered a 2023 planner from Adam JK. At first I hadn’t ordered one because it seemed superfluous when I considered all the things other than this blog where I record things: a small book to keep up with the meals I eat and the meds I take to manage my health; a book where I scribble random things including my answers to a daily word challenge; the coloring journal that I try to connect to where I am in/what I’m doing with the Neverending Saga.
Now I’ve figured out a unique way to use Adam’s planner. Every daily photo in Patti’s book makes me think of something from my own life: a phrase or comment that reverberated in my brain–for good or ill–for decades. A place I’ve been or thing I’ve seen that made me happy. What reaches me from a piece of art. A loss still etched on my heart. Something I read or a funny story I heard or a quirky or impactful person I’ve known. My planner from Adam will provide a place for me to note what Patti’s day has given me, and in that way, it will provide a bit of structure and purpose to the seemingly random.
Some days I may even share on here. With a picture of my own. If you want Patti’s photos, she’s thisispattismith on Instagram (where I’m now, finally, following her). Or you can purchase this wonderful book and see years of her documenting in single photos what, where, who, when, why Patti Smith was in a moment. Because she’s a celebrity? No. Because she’s an artist with gifts I’ve admired since I became aware of her in 1978.
ETA: Missed telling you the Day 5 NYT 7-Day Happiness Challenge is “Get Closer to a Colleague,” and today, Day 6, is “Put a social plan on the calendar.”