Joni and Joan

I've been listening to Joni Mitchell all weekend. And rule #1 is that one shouldn't listen to Joni if one is feeling depressed. However, I'm feeling pretty OK, even after Joni, so that's a good sign. But all weekend, I've felt like I should be reading Joan Didion while I listen to Joni. Apparently, my copy of The White Album, which is such a wonderful collection of essays, is in my office at work. This is sorta too bad, because I'm craving Joan. The opening to the first essay in The White Album is, "We tell ourselves stories in order to live." And this quote, this idea is something that I think about frequently. Didion (or can I call her by her first name?) seems to understand that narrative is a way to find meaning in the seeming-meaninglessness of our lives. And this is true on so many levels. I remember my mother saying, more than once, that when something really painful has happened, she maybe doesn't want to have to tell people, but that with each successive telling the telling becomes easier and the trauma, itself, becomes easier to cope with. But Didion also knows that when we create these narratives, we are forced to find patters and to select details and to create order. Narrative requires order, and maybe this is a way to create order in our lives. But even more importantly, it strikes me that salvation is to be found in story. We take comfort from the stories of others. Barack Obama is compelling, at least in part, because his story is interesting; it's a story of what it means to overcome. And even more importantly, the Gospel is story. It's a narrative. And Christ's teachings, say the Sermon on the Mount, is embedded in story. The story, the narrative creates a context for understanding. Some have called this narrative the greatest story ever told. C.S. Lewis speaks often of the strength of "story" as a particular genre. And while Didion may not see power and salvation in the story of the New Testament (or maybe she does), it seems that story, narrative matters. We create stories; we listen to the stories of others; we retell stories we already know. And these stories move us and change us and save us. I think that Joni Mitchell knows this too. And I wonder if Joni and Joan know one another. I'm certain that they know of one another, but that's not the same thing. And I wonder what they would say to one another over a cup of coffee. Joni tells us that "something's lost but something's gained in living every day," and this is both sad and hopeful, I think. And telling stories about the losses and gains gives us a way to understand them and ultimately a way to live.