I J U S T F I N I S H E D reading a biography of Joni Mitchell, one of my favorite artists (she is a singer-songwriter and a painter). Like most artists, she needs her moments of solitude. According to David Yaffe, the book’s author, Joni loved Marilyn Monroe’s line from the movie The Misfits: “If I have to feel lonely, I’d rather be alone.” And then he quotes Joni: “I’ve covered a lot of [loneliness] on my records . . . I need a lot of solitary time. Ideally, I would like to be able to withdraw into a corner in a room full of people and work. I love the bustle of a room of people interacting where perhaps I am apart but busy on my own project.” And she continues: “[…] in Los Angeles, I feel surrounded by people who are continually interacting, but desiring loneliness makes you feel like you’ve sinned, as Leonard Cohen said.” Mr. Cohen and Joni were very good friends. He died in 2016.
Desired solitude is quite different from imposed solitude. I worry about people living alone during this plague, so I phone them often. When taking early walks along the Hudson River boardwalk I am sometimes the only soul at the end of a pier. I cherish my alone time then, but I know I’m coming home to a husband. And a cat.
What’s your favorite Joni Mitchell song? I know which one is mine. If yours matches mine, you get a reward: an unpublished, uncut, posthumous STRIP-TEASE® mailed to you by USPS!
— New York City, 5/9/2020
“There is only
a certain amount
of kindness
in the world…
just as there is
a certain amount of
light. We seem
to cast a shadow on
something wherever
we stand, and it is no
good moving from
place to place to save things…
Choose a place where
you won’t do very much
harm and stand in it
for all you are worth,
facing the sunshine.”
— E. M. Forster