Creativity, Life, and a New Song
Finding Joy from Toastmasters to Christmas Tunes
Exciting News and Personal Updates
Hello there,
Since my last letter on 12 October, a lot has been happening! I'm thrilled to share that The Rayne, Andrea Patron, Corinne Schmidiger, Zac Ware and I have been putting the final touches on a brand-new Christmas song, set to release shortly—something we’re all very excited about.
My wife recently returned from a trip to Madeira, where she spent time with the friend who first introduced me to my better half back in 1992.
On a practical note, my 10-year-old Toyota Corolla had its pre-NCT service and sailed through the test on the first attempt, which was a relief. I’ve also managed to fit in two more Pilates sessions.
Award-winning speaker Ciaran Blair offered valuable advice to my Toastmasters club on preparing for a Humorous Speech contest.
At home, we finally have our shed up—completing one of the last major projects for the year. Thanks to a helpful friend who’s an electrician, it now has power and light. Assembling the shelves felt like a project in itself!
On the health front, I attended my second monthly online heart support group, organized by the Irish Heart Foundation. It’s great to connect with others through this initiative.
And after a bit of a hiatus, our landline is back in action, now running through the modem. We’re also making progress on the artwork for our new song.
Toastmasters and Humorous Speech Challenges
I love being a creative. When my wife and her friend returned from Madeira, I tested two early drafts of my Humorous Speech on them. Trying out a speech on an audience is a fantastic way to see what works and what doesn’t. The second time I delivered it, they laughed a lot—though I suspect my wife might want to disown me now!
Third Time Lucky? Competing at Toastmasters Again
There’s still plenty of work ahead: refining the script, memorizing it, and practicing the delivery. I’ve won the Area level Humorous Speech contest twice before, but, unfortunately, I couldn’t proceed to the Division level either time. The first time, I had a wedding I couldn’t miss—it was flattering that the bride insisted I be the celebrant, and I was glad I did it, but missing the contest was disappointing. On the second occasion, I caught COVID before the Division event, so I had to bow out once again.
Might it be third time lucky? First, I’d have to win the club contest, and I'm up against some incredibly talented new members and seasoned speakers—some of whom have won at Area, Division, and District levels; and beyond! So I won’t count my chickens before they hatch.
Even if I make it past that, there's the highly competitive Area contest, where the standard just keeps getting higher.
But if you’re not in, you can’t win. And in Toastmasters, everyone’s a winner. It’s a friendly, supportive community with an egalitarian spirit. I love that even the evaluators are evaluated on their feedback in the same meeting—it’s all about learning, supporting one another, and improving our communication skills together.
The Journey Behind Our New Christmas Song
I’d like to share a little about our new song, It’s a Wonderful Life (A Christmas Tale) [#ItsAWonderfulLife(AChristmasTale)] which will be released before Christmas. It’s the third winter since we began working on it, but this will be the first time it sees the light of day. People are often surprised by how long it can take to create a song. Sure, there are stories of musicians writing two hits in one day, but that’s the exception, not the rule.
Take Fairytale of New York—arguably the best of them all. That song took at least two years to write, with various versions, rewrites, and even the loss of its original female singer.
Life Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life
Our song is inspired by the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life. Every time I watch it, I find myself in tears. There’s something about it that hits me on a deep, emotional level.
To me, it’s a parable of life itself. You’ve got George Bailey, played by James Stewart, a man with a heart of gold. From boyhood, he dreams of escaping small-town America and exploring the world. But every time he’s about to leave, life intervenes, postponing or shattering his dream. And along the way, he almost misses things—like the love of his life, Mary. The scene where they’re on the phone together, when George finally realizes their mutual attraction, is pure movie magic.
Since our song draws so much from that iconic film, we wanted to use an image from it as our artwork. Unfortunately, despite a kind and gracious letter from Paramount, they couldn’t grant us permission for legal reasons. But we think we’ve found a suitable alternative, though we still have a few more hurdles to clear.
Gratitude, Music, and the Power of Collaboration
Between delivering my Toastmasters speech draft to my wife and listening to the latest mix of the song, I’ve been reflecting on how lucky I am. It’s a joy to be creating music, writing this Substack, crafting books and speeches—hopefully to inspire, entertain, or at least make people think.
I’m incredibly fortunate to be part of Toastmasters, which feels like my tribe. And I love collaborating with my songwriting partners. On one Zoom call with Andrea, Bryan, and Zac, as we listened to the soaring mix at the end of the song, with The Rayne leading a choir repeating the lyric ‘It’s a wonderful life!’, I was suddenly overcome. Having just been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, the words took on a new poignancy, and I broke down in tears. I couldn’t speak. When I finally could, my voice cracked, and I blurted out that we had to keep that ending—it captured the essence of the movie, and of life itself.
Life is wonderful, no matter the trials or suffering we face. No, I’m not dismissing the pain of someone in acute physical agony who, in my view, should have the right to choose when to end their life, without criminalizing those who assist them. But life—even in the most challenging circumstances, whether in prison or in war-torn Gaza, Lebanon, or Ukraine—is worth living. That’s what George Bailey learns on the bridge: life is wonderful, even in our darkest moments. Every life touches others in meaningful ways, and though none of us is perfect, we’ve all done some good.
George discovered that on the bridge. When the sheriff tells him he has paperwork to deal with, George, having just had his revelation, responds with, ‘I’ll bet it’s a warrant for my arrest. Isn’t it wonderful?’
That’s the challenge for all of us during our darkest nights: to remember that, despite everything, it still is a wonderful life.
Happy days,
Joe
#ItsAWonderfulLife(AChristmasTale)
Listen to our song So Glad I Married You on Spotify or YouTube, sung by The Rayne.
Listen to our song Every Moment, sung by The Rayne.
Joe’s acclaimed first memoir In My Gut, I Don’t Believe is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Hardback and Audible editions. His second memoir Saved by a Woman is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback editions.
