Life with Chronic Conditions: Keep on Keeping On

This past weekend Joni Mitchell stole the show with her performances at the Newport Folk Festival. She hasn’t performed a full concert since 2000. In 2015 she had a brain aneurysm and since then she has intensely worked to regain her ability to walk, let alone sing or play her guitar.

 Her performance last weekend is reflective of how she’s learned to accommodate her changing voice and body. As one reviewer noted, Two decades ago, Mitchell had surprised fans with a lower register made evocatively dark by years of cigarette smoking. Here was another revelatory voice, showing the marks of her recent health struggles and her determination to recover, stunning in its honesty.

 

Mitchell  had to teach herself how to play guitar again, along with how to sing, walk and talk.   “I’m learning. I’m looking at videos that are on the net to see where I put my fingers. It’s amazing what an aneurysm knocks out—how to get out of a chair, you don’t know how to get out of a bed. You have to learn all these things by rote again. I was into water ballet as a kid, and I forgot how to do the breaststroke. Every time I tried it, I just about drowned. So, a lot of going back to infancy almost. You have to relearn everything.”

 

And if Joni Mitchell wasn’t enough, behind her on stage was Wynonna Judd, who recently lost her mother,  the other half of the famous Judds duo, to suicide. She begins her solo tour, which she was planning to do with Naomi, this fall. “The show must go on, as hard as it may be, and we will show up together, and you will carry me as you’ve carried me for 38 years.” 

 

This concert wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible efforts of Brandie Carlile who organized the event and has continually worked to keep Mitchell relevant and helping to ensure that generations from now, people will still be honoring the musical contributions she’s made.

 

The message loud and clear from this amazing concert, and such power house people, is that life absolutely continues to throw curve balls, but with the help of good friends, a willingness to commit to growth, change and exploring new avenues, you can have a pretty incredible life, inspiring yourself and others along the way. 

 

So enjoy some of the footage of Mitchell’s performances and be inspired to "keep on keeping on." 

 

 

Particularly liked her version of Summertime