Jann Arden confesses that she looks forward to getting older. It’s another year to embrace life. She just turned fifty-six and admittedly doesn’t celebrate birthdays.

“It’s just something you have to grab and go with.” That’s not a bad summary for retirement or being a senior, for that matter. As she sings in, “It’s A Long Goodbye”: ‘It ain’t so bad…you’ve got to wrap yourself inside all the goodness that you’ve had.’

Arden, arguably a Canadian icon, in many respects has had an up-and-down life and one that has thrown curves. Always approachable in interviews and honest and forthcoming to questions, her life is well documented. She maintains, however, that everyone’s life has a variation on a roller coaster ride, hers is nothing special. “Hell, everyone has fortitude and I wonder how some folks can face the suffering they get thrown at them, like the town of Humboldt.”

If her suffering has not been unique, it has not been entirely typical either. Not everyone has been beaten up and robbed in Vancouver’s East End; or worked on a fishing boat (ironically, to get grounded); or had an alcoholic father with dementia who died (2015), or a mother with Alzheimer’s; or a brother imprisoned. However, she says that at any age in life, it’s important to self-correct, to take stock. With all her accomplishments, one would think she could be satisfied, if not self-satisfied. But, no! A very down-to-earth personality, Jann believes optimistically in making sure the glass is half full or more.

“There are a lot of mistakes and failures on the road to success,” she says. “You may even have regrets, but the mistakes and regrets aren’t bad things. Sure, there are tough times, but you have to fear not, persevere and for goodness’ sake don’t believe everything you think.”

That thoughtfulness and openness, always tinged with a sense of wry humour, have endeared Jann to her fans for more than 25 years (her first album, Time for Mercy, was released in 1993, her latest, These Are The Days, in March 2018).

Accomplishments: Ya, I’ve Had A Few

She has been called a Canadian original, a brilliant multi-dimensional talent. Foremost a singer/songwriter (19 Juno nominations and eight awards); twice songwriter and twice female artist of the year; she has also done guest appearances on the Canadian television series, Workin’ Moms, Private Eyes, and Rick Mercer Report where one could watch her face fear on a zipline, a climbing wall, or the CN Tower; and written four books in the memoir genre, the most recent, Feeding My Mom (2018), about caring for her mother. In addition, she received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame and a National Achievement Award. In 2010, she even carried the Olympic torch. In December 2017, Jann became a Member of the Order of Canada for her achievements as a singer-songwriter and broadcaster and for her extensive charitable work. Clearly, she has had a very diverse life’s work so far, and it continues. This spring, she has been filming in Toronto for an upcoming television series with Jason Priestly, in June will be performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and in November appearing twice in Sidney By The Sea’s Mary Winspear Centre.

Talking from her rural Alberta home not far from where she grew up in Springbank, looking out at an early spring blizzard covering her country road, Jann maintains she is but a small-town girl, who loves Canada, and believes what the Highwaymen’s lyrics assert, that “true love travels on a gravel road.”

Jann Arden gives so much of herself and is so productive (she claims she is 95 per cent private and only 5 per cent public), but that ratio measured against her achievements and schedule is difficult to believe. She tries to live a balanced life and look after herself. Now she subscribes to doing everything in moderation, including moderation. She is an early riser and takes the dogs for walks twice a day, “More for me than the dogs; it makes me feel well.” In 2007, she was diagnosed with a heart ailment connected to acute stress and exhaustion. Rural life gives her a lot of time alone where she can eschew low-grade anxiety and depression. “I like wondering and pondering”; she just needs time for herself, her mom, her friends and her new found social media connecting.

Canadian Communicator: “Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee and just as hard to sleep after.” (Anne Lindbergh)

Jann considers herself a storyteller, essentially. She illustrates that in her subtle lyrics about relationships, captured early on in songs like “Insensitive.” And she is a bestselling writer of note. But Jann has also embraced social media. She has more than 302,000 followers on Twitter and has posted more than 58,000 tweets; keeps an active Facebook page with over 170,000 likes; has almost 75,000 followers on Instagram; a fan club of 4,000; and a website with a store of bundled records, books, merchandise and even clothing.

Jann found that writing her journals on the internet and confiding about memory-loss diseases touched thousands, if not millions. She had always kept diaries and began writing a blog about caring for aging parents and Alzheimer’s. Responses to her were almost overwhelming and she actually wept over the sympathy and the kind suggestions she received. One in October 2016, she noted, “I love reading your posts and hearing your honesty about caring for your mom. Wonder if you have ever heard about GPA – Gentle Persuasive Approach – which is a course you can take… we use it to train nurses and caregivers. This is not a plug… really just hoping it might be helpful information for you.” Opening herself up on social media has been, for the most part, a satisfying two-way street.

Also, Jann began promoting causes online. In February 2016, she posted “Distracted Driving has to STOP. I took the pledge to leave my phone alone. Will you?” This year she wrote about signing to donate her useable organs on her driver’s license, “although there won’t be many at this point.” On average, she posts at least 10 times a day on Twitter. And she is venturing more into political commentary, such as being anti-Trump or anti-Jason Kenney. Of course, it invites some unwanted responses, too, but she enjoys being interactive and if needed, even blocking vexatious people, at least one every day, she quips.

Among the many descriptions ascribed to Jann Arden, one of her favourites is “brassy and sassy.” Perhaps her style of communication on social media and elsewhere fits that label. Her words can be provocative, but if one result is to force reflection and to contribute to perspective, then it’s worth it.

She likes to engage in Twitter poetry, too. As Jann confesses, “I am so full of words. I don’t know who to give them to.” Another one in April 2018 was, “I’ve made a garland out of hope and bits of pain… but my garland will remind me that the good does come again.” She gets so many responses to these and others. It’s as if her posts are self-mandatory, “choosing NOT to help someone who is struggling says a lot about you.” And so, she reaches out.

Life’s Philosophies, Or A Philosophy of Life

Jann is conscious of the dichotomies in life. In an eclectic way, she sprinkles the conversation with concepts such as karma, yin and yang, complexities, taking good and bad, the importance of perspective and accepting the contradictions. Even her dad who abused drink was generous and kind. In some respects, she metes out her thoughts like an elder or a sage. There are several nuggets, such as kindness is the key to all happiness; or there are thousands of insignificant events in a life and you have to round them up like a cattle drive and pen them in to ponder; or theologians and scientists are going up two sides of the same mountain and will meet at the top.

She says she tries to be non-judgmental and open-minded and forgiving, not always with success, but she acknowledges the value of those qualities. “To have a friend you have to be a friend. Besides, people will not want to be around you if you bitch.”

Jann Arden might be approaching senior status, but she is still unsinkable. Like a simple recipe in Feeding My Mom, she maintains that getting older is not a big deal. “I’m just having a purposeful life, just doing stuff. This is what I do.”

Snapshot

1. If you were to meet your 20-year-old self, what advice would you give her? 

I was asked that when I was 50 and would say the same thing. Bad things do happen, but you have to shrug your shoulders back, be brave, and carry on. And don’t bitch about it. Also, be respectful of yourself, don’t beat yourself up. You’ll have mistakes and failures, but don’t fear them or regret them. As my dad said to me, “It’s not what you did, but what you will do.”

2. Who or what has influenced you the most? And why?

Oh, I’ve had many. Certainly, my mom and dad for different reasons, friends and teachers, too. They were all necessary and integral, like bricks in the wall. My Grade Four teacher, Judith Humphreys, was one for sure. Unfortunately, she just died last year. However, she was the one who knew I had a singing voice inside me just screaming to get out. She was so inclusive and had me sing in front of the music class. When she put her arm around you, you felt like you’d won the lottery.

3. What does courage mean to you?

Courage and fear are inseparable I think, part of the same process, the dichotomy, the yin and yang. You need both to make changes. And it’s all about taking stock and doing what it takes to change. I got frightened about my health, so I don’t drink alcohol anymore, I’m eating better, I’ve lost a lot of weight, I exercise. I got out of a damaging relationship; I reached out to my friends. Anyone who can face a fear and try to get over it is courageous, I think.

4. What does success mean to you?

That’s easy! More than all the records and awards, it’s having friendships. They mean more than anything else, both old and new ones. To accomplish a friendship is so important; even more than a partner. Partners can come and go but you want to keep and nurture friends. Long relationships are rare these days; and I’m grateful for my friends and my fans. Maybe that’s why I live near where I grew up, where I can take care of my mother, run into our high school hockey coach and old girlfriends, chat with the gas station guys at Bragg Creek, or with Kirk who pumps out my septic tank. They are all important pieces to the puzzle of who I am.

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