An article by psychologist John Masterson came to my attention thanks to a fellow Josh Ritter message-boarder. It's about one of Josh's songs, Empty Hearts, with it's simple but heartfelt refrain,
"Don't let me into this year with an empty heart"
"... and each time I heard it repeated it sunk in more. Here, I thought, is a New Year's Resolution worthy of the name.....It is about an attitude to everything that will affect everything. It is about taking on life fully and not letting it get you down."
My sentiments exactly. Quietly, this song has been a source of inspiration for me in the past 12 months or so. For me, it has meant embracing life more fully, being open, learning to believe in myself and not being afraid.
I only really fully understood how important this song had become to me, and how much I was beginning to change, one April evening at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds. There I was, happily gazing at my favourite singer and his band and singing along, when I was beckoned up onto the low stage to join in with the last few choruses of, what else but Empty Hearts. It was only after the song finished and Josh enveloped me in a hug and I climbed down from the stage as gracefully as possible that it struck me what I had just done....stood up in front of a room full of people and performed. I even got compliments from people in the crowd afterwards! Now if you had told me beforehand that I was going to do this I would have been shaking with terror, a rabbit frozen in the headlights. But on the spur of the moment, when I didn't have time to think, I did it, and it was fun!
Listening to the song again, and remembering that night, I realised that fear itself is always my biggest obstacle in achieving something. It's not an easy thing to get rid of but I've promised myself not only not to let fear get the better of me ever again, but to let that feeling of freedom, of hope, of boundless joy, out at every opportunity. To embrace the endless possibilities, live life with passion and with wonder - with a full heart.
So thank you Josh, for the song, the sentiment and for some of my favourite memories of 2008.
Josh in the dark at Vicar St, Dublin, Dec 2008
Josh Ritter Band & Orchestra, Vicar St, Dublin, Dec 2008
Final Encore, 'Empty Hearts', Vicar St, Dublin, Dec 2008
"Don't let me into this year with an empty heart"
"... and each time I heard it repeated it sunk in more. Here, I thought, is a New Year's Resolution worthy of the name.....It is about an attitude to everything that will affect everything. It is about taking on life fully and not letting it get you down."
My sentiments exactly. Quietly, this song has been a source of inspiration for me in the past 12 months or so. For me, it has meant embracing life more fully, being open, learning to believe in myself and not being afraid.
I only really fully understood how important this song had become to me, and how much I was beginning to change, one April evening at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds. There I was, happily gazing at my favourite singer and his band and singing along, when I was beckoned up onto the low stage to join in with the last few choruses of, what else but Empty Hearts. It was only after the song finished and Josh enveloped me in a hug and I climbed down from the stage as gracefully as possible that it struck me what I had just done....stood up in front of a room full of people and performed. I even got compliments from people in the crowd afterwards! Now if you had told me beforehand that I was going to do this I would have been shaking with terror, a rabbit frozen in the headlights. But on the spur of the moment, when I didn't have time to think, I did it, and it was fun!
So thank you Josh, for the song, the sentiment and for some of my favourite memories of 2008.
Josh in the dark at Vicar St, Dublin, Dec 2008
Josh Ritter Band & Orchestra, Vicar St, Dublin, Dec 2008
Final Encore, 'Empty Hearts', Vicar St, Dublin, Dec 2008
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