William Prince: Little choices we make have a sort of compound interest on each other.Illustration by Pablo Lobato
Life is better than ever for Juno award-winner William Prince, whose aptly titled fourth studio album, Stand in the Joy, serves as a reminder of the daily importance of choosing happiness – even and especially if tomorrow it might be gone.
In this instalment of the “Joy Diaries” series, the Winnipeg-based folk and country singer-songwriter reflects on the daily choices he makes to lighten his heart and enjoy the moment.
Stand in the Joy is a love letter to the two people who bring me the most joy: my wife and my kid. We just bought our first home so I’m finally a homeowner. We’ve got a dog. All this has been a long time in the works and there are so many good things going on right now in my life. Stand in the Joy is my reminder to stop and look around and enjoy the moment.
This isn’t easy for me. I have to actively choose not to worry and not to let the negative thoughts I often have intrude and take me away from the moment. Otherwise, I’m always thinking, oh gosh, what if in 10 years this all goes away? What if I lose everything? These thoughts make me sad and depressed and anxious – something I deal with a lot of the time.
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I’ve had to reconcile with a lot of loss in my life, a key figure being my dad. I’m coming up on 10 years since I lost him. If the average diabetic First Nations person lives to be 65 to 75, I’m well aware that I don’t have a lot of time left here. I’m only 39, and my dad was only 65. I’m trying to make better choices in terms of my health, which is a lot easier with money and privilege. I’m not suffering in poverty and people roll out the red carpet for me everywhere I go these days. Things are amazing for me now – the best they’ve ever been.
But what if I have to go back? I think this is a nagging fear of any artist. What if my art stops resonating with people? What if I can’t make it any more? This could happen, and if it did, I want to be able to say I stood in the joy and enjoyed it to the fullest while it flowed so freely around me. I don’t want to waste this time.
My wife and I have a daily session where, every morning with coffee after the kid goes to school, we sit together and talk about our feelings. This sounds like therapy but it isn’t. It’s just a quick check-in every day about where we’re at and how we can get on the same page. I share whatever is exciting me about the day. Looking forward to things really helps me stay happy.
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I grew up around a lot of anger and sometimes it still feels like being angry is embedded in my DNA. I don’t want my son to grow up with an angry dad, so I need to calm that side of me and learn to control it. To push back against this old habit, I try to remind myself every day that I’ve woken up relatively healthy, my family is here and we’re living a beautiful life. There’s no point in worrying away the now. Every day, I make an active choice to be lighthearted and easier on myself and those around me.
Stand in the Joy is about breathing all this in and saying, tonight’s a great night for an ice cream and for going on a walk with my family. It doesn’t have to be something major. Little choices we make have a sort of compound interest on each other, and then you notice you’re just a little bit more joyful than you were before.
As told to Rosemary Counter