This past week I took my 7-year old daughter to her very first concert in Milwaukee. The P!nk Summer Carnival Tour.
She had wanted to go to Taylor Swift this year, but with the ticket prices becoming so inflated and impossible to get, we just couldn’t swing that one.
We settled for P!nk, and it was really a great decision and experience.
I have loved P!nk since I was 14 years old, so to get to see her full-length show finally at the age of 37, was definitely a bucket list experience and one I won’t forget.
But beyond just the music and the show she put on, I realized that P!nk is really empowering the next generation of girls to be confident, to stand up for what they believe in, and to never back down from their dreams.
I felt a palpable sense of empowerment in that stadium full of 46,644 people. And the energy was invigorating.
Typically as an empath I’d be so drained after being around such a big crowd, and yes I was still tired from staying out until midnight and trying to get an Uber back in the rain with my 7-year old in tow, but something was different with this crowd.
I looked around and saw the faces of Grandmothers, Mothers, and Daughters, all excited and filled with the hope of a better tomorrow. Also along for the ride were the spouses of the Mothers and Grandmothers, and every age imaginable from 4 years old to 75 years old.
When P!nk sang her song “Irrelevant,” which is basically an anthem and battle cry for women’s rights in a time when politics have overtaken basic women’s bodily autonomy in this country, I could especially feel the energy surging through the crowd, even the young spouses of women standing up and singing along.
“The kids are not alright/ None of us are right, I’m tired/ but I won’t sleep tonight/ ’Cause I still feel alive,”
“Girls just wanna have rights/ So, why do we have to fight?”
Taking my 7-year old to the P!nk show will probably be one of the most empowering things she’ll experience in her youth.
P!nk has never sugar coated anything in her music and her political and humanitarian stances. And that’s why I’ve loved her so much for the past 22 years.
While she sang her song “F*ckin Perfect,” we both sang along (by the way she left out the “F*ckin” part for the show so it was more kid friendly!) I wrapped my arms around my daughter and really took in those lyrics.
“Made a wrong turn once or twice
Dug my way out, blood and fire
Bad decisions, that’s alright
Welcome to my silly life
Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood
Miss ‘No way, it’s all good’
It didn’t slow me down.
Mistaken, always second guessing
Underestimated, look I’m still around
Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever, ever feel
Like you’re less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you’re nothing, you are perfect to me”
If I could give my daughter one message to take with her into her pre-teen stage, teen stage, early adulthood and entire life it’s that she’s perfect as herself. It’s not striving for perfection in the eyes of a patriarchal society. But it’s coming to terms that as her unique self, she’s absolutely good enough. She was born good enough. And that’s the work I also do with my clients in my Intuitive Empowerment and Energy Healing practice.
P!nk really reinforces the themes that I’ve gone through in my life, and brings to the forefront how important it is to continue to empower our daughters to be independent and in control of their own lives and bodies.
Because we are raising the next generation to be a shining light in the world; to be the difference and to be the change.
I hope P!nk knows that she’s directly contributing to the betterment of society by standing up for what she believes in, and showing girls around the world what’s possible for them.
I’ve loved her since 2000, when I was that impressionable 14-year old trying to find my way in the world. And I love her even more now, that I’ve watched her transform into a powerful role model and leader for girls around the world. As I watch her own daughter, Willow, come on stage to sing the beautiful song “Cover Me in Sunshine.” the tears well up in my eyes, because this is what it looks like to create a better future for our kids.
This is what changing the world for the next generation looks like. And I’m here for it. All of it.
