Crazy Heart

Several months a go, my husband and I sat down to watch "Crazy Heart," the 2009 musical-drama film starring Jeff Bridges (who went on to win the Academy Award that year for Best Actor) who plays a down-and-out country music singer-songwriter named Bad Blake. Blake tries to turn his life around after beginning a relationship with a young journalist portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I heart the movie but I especially loved the music. The original music was composed by T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Burton, and Ryan Bingham. Bingham and Burnett received the Academy Award for Best Original Song for co-writing "The Weary Kind," which Bingham also performed.

I have since downloaded "The Weary Kind" on my ipod and the soulful and haunting lyrics move me to tears every time. And although I'm sure the lyrics are all about booze, hard living, and lost dreams, something in it resonates with me. The chorus states:

And this ain't no place for the weary kind
this ain't no place to lose your mind
this ain't no place to fall behind
pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try

So although I've had a particularly rough end to the year with lots of heart palpitations, anxiety, fatigue, and stress, my soul tells me to "pick up my crazy heart and give it one more try."