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WORLD PREMIERE! Mental Health Music Video: Run with My Troubles

by Theresa Garee | May 7, 2021 | Blog

Mental Health Music Video: Run with My Troubles

WELCOME to the WORLD PREMIERE of Jason Didner’s “RUN WITH MY TROUBLES!”

For the first 24 hours, nitasweeney.com is the only outlet showing the video.

THANK YOU JASON!

New Jersey musician Jason Didner featured Nita Sweeney and her yellow Labrador running partner Scarlet, along with other mental health runners in a music video of his original song “Run with My Troubles.”

Two of Jason’s life passions of running and music were the impetus for his latest musical endeavor. He hopes the song and video inspire people to take that hardest step—out the front door—for better mental and physical health.

Jason didn’t do it alone

To demonstrate how running can make a positive impact on an athlete’s life, Jason solicited videos from people with interesting running/exercise stories. He received contributions that exceeded his wildest imagination.

For example, Barefoot Ted, a runner prominently featured in Christopher McDougall’s best-selling memoir, Born to Run, provided a stunning slow-motion video. Jason was so intrigued by Ted’s unique running style that he invited Ted to participate in the music video.

Nita, author of the award-winning running and mental health memoir, Depression Hates a Moving Target, submitted a genuinely endearing clip of herself running with Scarlet. Her clip demonstrates the powerful connection that can be created between an athlete and a canine when they participate in outdoor activities, such as exercise, together.

The video also serves as an excellent reminder that not all humans move on two legs. Wheelchair ultramarathoner Julia Beckley submitted a breathtaking scene of her training on a Montana highway with her mom riding horseback behind her.

Additionally, friends of Jason’s submitted running clips, showcasing diversity in race, gender, age and geography.

Jason’s own crisis prompted the song and mental health video

“Two years ago I was at a crossroads,” Jason says. “My physical and mental health were under profound stress. Years of insomnia culminated in a likely anxiety attack that landed me in the emergency room in the middle of the night. I considered seeing a psychiatrist to explore the possibility of a prescription. But first, I was willing to see if exercise could bring the balance I was lacking. That experiment worked.”

“This song is a celebration of what I’ve learned.”

The music reflects Jason’s passion for rock, and, in particular, the indelible impressions made on him by the late and great guitarist, Eddie Van Halen. “I really wanted to honor Eddie’s memory with the guitar solo and worked hard for precision in the fast passages,” Jason says. Still, he also allowed himself to draw inspiration from the next generation of Van Halens. “Hearing Eddie’s son Wolfgang record every instrument plus vocals inspired me to learn drums so I could record every instrument on this latest round of songs,” he adds.
Jason’s wife Amy, a mental health blogger, co-wrote the lyrics and co-directed the video. Amy and Jason often exercise together, along with their 10-year-old daughter. Their shared routine includes walks, strength training cardio boxing and the use of a treadmill and exercise bikes side by side.

Roundtable on Youtube!

We’re still finding a date that works for everyone, but Jason will hold a Roundtable Discussion about Mental Health on his Youtube Channel. If you subscribe to his channel and click the “bell” you will receive a notice.

Upcoming Album; Single on Bandcamp

The song “Run With My Troubles” will be featured on Jason’s album, currently in progress but set for release this year. It focuses on coping with mental health issues, including exercise, gratitude, recognizing hard-earned progress and self-compassion.

Jason released the single “Run with My Troubles” on Bandcamp,. Listeners can stream the track for free or download it for $1.

<a href="https://jasondidnermusic.bandcamp.com/track/run-with-my-troubles">Run With My Troubles by Jason Didner</a>

If you purchase something through the affiliate links on this page, Write Now Columbus, a collection of resources for central Ohio writers and readers, will receive a small percentage of the sale.

We Are Not Alone

by Theresa Garee | Dec 4, 2012 | Blog

“The reason we race isn’t so much to beat each other but to be with each other.” – Christopher McDougall, author of BORN TO RUN

I like National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) for the same reasons I enjoy running in races. It’s about being with others. We participate together, side by side. And although in NaNoWriMo we’re each competing to get to 50,000 words and secretly hoping to write the magic number quickly or secretly hating the people who get to 50K without much effort at all, we’re really only competing against ourselves. And most of us, loners that we are, need a structure to help us find other writers.

It’s wonderful to know people who share our common goal. We’re so different and yet in November we come together for a common purpose. The books of my fellow wrimos differ greatly from mine. I typed 52,203 words of memoir about – you guessed it – running. As I wrote about buying my first pair of real running shoes and learning tricks to avoid chafing in awkward places, my friends wrote about exploding coffins, children growing up in cemeteries, historic race wars, time-eating space machines, and dystopian scenarios I can’t even begin to wrap my head around. Yet at the numerous write-ins, we were all together writing away.

A community helps us know we’re not alone. When I sit here writing, I am alone, but there’s this whole field of people behind me. On the back of my door in my office, I have pictures of photographs of women writers I admire. This includes many very famous writers such as Natalie Goldberg, Anne LaMott, Toni Morrison, Anne Patchett and many others. It also includes less well-known writers such as Tania Casselle, Martha Crone, Sammi Soutar, Deby Dixon, Wendy Drake, and Jamie Figueroa. These are the people who have my back. These are the writers I admire whether they’ve ever published a book, so much as a single line of anything, or nothing at all. These are my colleagues and my commiserants. We take care of each other.

On December 16^th, when I toe the line with a few thousand other folks in Indianapolis for the Santa Hustle Half Marathon, I probably won’t know any of the other runners. And it won’t matter. I’ll stand out in the cold with like-minded people and be happy. When the starting horn sounds I’ll run as hard and fast as I can, but that won’t be my primary goal. That race is just an excuse to hang out with a bunch of other crazy runners dressed like Santa. We just want to be together.

Writing and racing have that common thread. We are ultimately alone. I sit here writing with my own fingers and my own mind or I race along with my own heart and my own legs, but I do it alongside others. We’re all alone, together.

How do you find community support for whatever activities you enjoy? I’d love to hear about it.

Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast

by Theresa Garee | Apr 3, 2012 | Blog

“Don’t fight the trail. Take what it gives you. . . “—ultramarathon runner Caballo Blanco aka Micah True (Died April of 2012) as quoted by Chris McDougall in the book BORN TO RUN

No lie. I wish writing were easier, but I make it harder than it has to be. I fight the trail.

Recently, I’ve been working with a freelance editor. She’s pushing me deeper into the work. She wants to know my motivations and intentions and the motivations and intentions of the people I’ve written about, many of whom are dead.

I’m not sure I want to go where she’s asking and I’m having trouble moving forward. I’m uncomfortable, tired, and grumpy. I haven’t relaxed into the trail. Instead of leaning into the hills and letting go on the downsides, I’m grimacing, squealing and twirling. That’s why I’m so uncomfortable.

When I’m ready to stop fighting, I’ll just look down and see a path ahead of me. I don’t have to like it, but it’s the trail I’m on. It’s time to relax into reality and continue working. I’m more likely to find the answers when I’m at the page.

Do you ever fight the trail? If so, please share your adventure. You may leave a comment by clicking the little “post a comment” link at the bottom of the page.