"Janey, Don't You Lose Heart"

A shout out to my Bruce Buddy, Sara, for the title and inspiration of my latest blog. Both Bruce and Jane Austen "sing" about broken hearts, disappointment in love, and relationships gone awry. As I get to know Jane better and better through JASNA, I'm convinced that she also knew personally the vagaries of a broken heart. If not, she certainly wrote with great insight about how disappointment in love can cause even sensible girls like Jane Bennet to weep themselves to sleep.

But, both Bruce and Jane Austen know the comforting power of a friend when one is suffering a broken heart. As Bruce proclaims, "You got your book baby with all its fears/Let me honey and I'll catch your tears...." Lizzie caught Jane's tears as her sister read the news of the Bingley party's departing from Netherfield - or rather comforted Jane as well as she could, for Jane Bennet showed little of her inner anguish. Enduring a broken heart without a shoulder to cry on is the height of loneliness in both the genteel world of Jane and the bitter landscapes of Bruce.

Even though Lizzie Bennet tartly tells her sister, Jane, that "a girl likes to be crossed in love now and then" for it is something to think about, both Bruce and Jane Austen know the devastation of the heart when one is crossed in love, when one has "no new dreams to touch" (Springsteen). The dreams of love of young girls on the marriage market facing either a sordid relationship or certain spinsterhood are tinged with a sadness that Bruce, the troubadour, also ascertains. The emptiness of Janey and the cynicism of Lizzie are not surprising. Both emotions are the remnants of disappointment in love.

But, on a lighter note - both Jane Austen and Bruce know the restorative powers of dance: “To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love” is the main reason that the Bennet sisters clamor for Bingley to hold a ball at Netherfield. Because, "Dancing in the Dark" is the surest way to heal a broken heart. 

Degrees of Separation

As I was at the AGM last weekend, I found myself contemplating the fulness and richness of my life. Here I was, in Regency dress, promenading through the streets of Brooklyn, kicking up my well-shod heels in country dances, and enjoying my first JASNA AGM.

A mere four weeks earlier, I had been at Wrigley Field, in the pit for a Springsteen Concert. The next night I'd been on the rooftops, watching the action from afar, but still participating with Bruce and the crowd with every fiber of my rain-drenched being.

Whether rain-soaked and rocking on, or turban-topped and gently promenading, I was dancing to the music all around me and experiencing life in its fullest. How lucky am I to be able to indulge in both of my obsessions to the fullest! Am I one of the few who follows with full heart and all enthusiasm the two icons of their times: Jane Austen and Bruce Springsteen? Am I the sole connection between these two disparate but perhaps united artists?

Then, I came to the realization, that this unique connection - my Jane-Bruce obsession - needed to be explored through blogging and sharing my enthusiasm. Since I'm also thoroughly immersed in my new writing classes, it is high time I follow my own advice: write about that which you know best. And so it begins....