Soothing Balm

Listening to Patti Smith on Substack

If you are overwhelmed by the horrible things humans do to each other, you might find that Patti Smith is not just an interesting person; she is a soothing balm.

When I first came across photographs of Patti Smith, something was intriguing about her. Like someone speaking softly through a turned-up megaphone, something quietly, confidently said, "This is a creative person...an artist.”

Patti Smith In Amsterdam by Gijsbert Hanekroot. Getty Images

But it was only later, when I bought M Train and began to read her writing, that I began to understand how extraordinary she is. Reading Patti Smith is having gentle, surprisingly strong hands come up out of the page and softly grip your collar, tugging you closer, so she can whisper directly into your ear and share things—deeply personal things—just with you.

In the weeks to come, I would sit at my corner table reading nothing but Murakami. I'd come up for air just long enough to go to the bathroom or order another coffee. Dance Dance Dance and Kafka on the Shore swiftly followed Sheep Chase. And then, fatally, I began The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. That was the one that did me in, setting in motion an unstoppable trajectory, like a meteor hurtling toward a barren and entirely innocent sector of Earth. Patti Smith, M Train

One of the qualities of Patti Smith that appeals to me is that she frequently recommends the work of other writers rather than her own. Sometimes she even seems to like a writer’s work more than they do, as she shared with her viewers on Substack:

I finally met him [César Aira]. In Switzerland, I think it was, at a literary festival. And I went bounding up to him, I was so excited. And I told him that this book that he wrote was a masterpiece. And he said, "No, it isn't." And I said, "Yes, it is." And he said, "No, it isn't." And I said, "Yes, it is." And then he said, "Well. I wrote it." And I said, "Yes, but I read it." Patti Smith

When I signed up on Substack, Patti Smith popped up as a recommended author. Delighted, I immediately signed up and visited her page.

Patti shares videos from her bedroom. I was expecting text but got texture instead.

I pressed the play button.

"Hello, everybody," she said. And then she smiled like someone being handed a tastefully arranged selection of their favorite chocolates on a plate they have kept since childhood.

It was a smile that I had not experienced before.

Patti’s smile made me feel so good it made me uncomfortable until I figured out what was happening.

Imagine being given some balm. When you rub it on your arm, it feels marvelous. But until you applied it, you didn’t know you needed it.

I realized that I was hurting inside because of the terrible things done in the world by bad people. Watching Patty smile made me realize this because she embodies goodness. When Patti Smith spoke to me from her bedroom while gently holding her cat, Cairo, I had the odd sensation of being brought into the comfort of her space and treated with the respect my closest friends might give me.

Her smile is beautiful because it comes from deep within her core. It spreads across her face like a warm patch of sunlight at sunrise. And, a few moments later, if you are watching her, you will be smiling too.