Patron Saint of the Long Pause
It's Patti Smith. Are you surprised?
It’s no secret that I love Patti Smith, in part because of her Pauses.* As far as I’m concerned, she’s the Patron Saint of the Long Pause.
Last week, she dropped a video on her Substack about a recent Pause she experienced, and how she got through it— here’s a clip:
I love these videos because they feel like Patti inviting us, her audience, into her life, into her everyday work and thoughts. They aren’t produced; they aren’t perfect. They’re real. I think that’s the magic in a lot of her art: It’s expansive. It makes a connection.
I encourage you to check out the whole video here:
And sign up for Patti’s substack! It’s really lovely.
When it comes to a Long Pause, there’s something comforting about knowing that Patti Smith is 78 and still killing it. She’s been creating art for most of her life— iconic music, writing, and visual art— and it would be easy to see someone so prolific and think it’s easy for her, that she must have something others don’t. But it’s not easy, and the only thing she has earned is, perhaps, more faith in her identity as an artist and in her work.
Perhaps this one hit me so hard because I’ve been thinking of the last year of interviews on The Long Pause (yes! We turned 1 on May 23rd! ♊️), and Patti’s assertions so clearly echo the themes that have come up again and again for all different writers and artists who have weathered a Pause:
You don’t have to be actively making things to be an artist. Your life is the art.
"You can be an artist and not make a single thing for years."
You have to take in other art or experience other places to have something to draw from
"When I came out of my Pause, I couldn't figure out how to write anything interesting--and then I read The Narrow Road to the Interior"
You can’t force it. Sometimes you have to wait.
“My Long Pause made me see more clearly that I couldn’t force my creativity.”
You have to know yourself.
"Finding who you are and how you operate best as a human is intertwined with who you are and how you operate best as a creator."
You have to have faith.
"I had to trust that my life was actually part of my art"
I hope you’ll take a minute to read one of the interviews linked above— whatever speaks to what you need to hear right now— and know that you’re not alone. That’s the whole deal with The Long Pause. We say the quiet part loud. We make a connection. We know we’re not alone. 💖
*The other part is entirely Because the Night on a loop till I’m dead:
Happy one year and thank you for all the comfort and inspiration you share through The Long Pause!