Just Kids

I was given Patti Smith’s memoir, Just Kids, by one of my best friends over Christmas.  Months before Christmas, I had heard a Fresh Air interview with Patti and felt interested in her story.  Though I probably would never have bought the book myself, the beauty of receiving a book as a gift is that sometimes, one you would never buy yourself, turns out to shape your life in all sorts of unexpected ways. I am not saying that Just Kids has changed my life, but there are a couple themes and lessons that I have carried with me since I started reading it.

Other people’s relationships are not for you to figure out – The main focus of Just Kids is Patti Smith’s lifelong bond with her homosexual boyfriend/soulmate/best friend/mentor/idol artist, Robert Mapplethorpe. There are countless occasions in which people judge them and try to understand their relationship. Yet they keep their relationship sacred, and for no one else.  It is one of the most beautiful bonds I have ever read about.

(Robert Mapplethorpe, Untitled, 1968)

Art is awesome – I have always had an affinity for poetry and photography.  Reading this book has  my renewed admiration for creative expression. It’s made me want to take more pictures and write more often. And I’m reminded that I need no point other than to express myself. Creating (bring something into existence) will never be a regret and it is one of the most beautiful things you can do.

When you are in the midst of a revolution, you don’t always realize it – Patti moved to New York City in the late 60’s.  She partied with Andy Warhol, lived across the street from John Lennon and sat with Jimi Hendrix. When Patti describes herself sitting with Janis Joplin in a room at the Hotel Chelsea singing songs, she says, “I was there for these moments, but so young and preoccupied with my own thoughts that I recognized them as moments.” It is true, and I can relate to the fact, that sometimes we are so self involved that we don’t notice the changes happening.

The hard times can sometimes be summed up in just a couple of sentences – There are time periods in Patti’s life which she describes by saying things like, “that was a dark time, but I left it with a deeper sense of myself.” As a struggling young adult in New York City, who at times feels undeniably lost and stuck, I feel reasured that sometimes the darker times don’t need more explaination than the lessons you learn from them.

Just Kids is a dark book in some ways, but it has brought light to some meaningful things in my life. I intend to enjoy and make more art, continue to foster the relationships in which I believe,  and make it through the hard times knowing there are important lessons to learn. Thank you Patti; what I’ve learned most from you is to love what is love and that art is art.  That is all there is to it. You dig?