PINK! Fierce and Fabulous and a beacon for my life.
Two beacons actually. In 2006 I took my 11-year-old daughter to see PINK in her “I’m not dead tour”. Actually, my daughter bought me the tickets for Mother’s Day (it was only later that I worked out how she did – she’d snuck my credit card – but that’s another story). PINK was just becoming a big deal then, in Australia rather than her native US. They took a while to cotton on.
We sat at the back (my daughter has since learnt to pick better seats) and we watched this absolutely fierce women fly above us and around us (literally) and bleed sweat. She was a powerhouse - intense, belting out the lyrics, forcing us to adore her. She was all bravado but the women in me sensed her deep-seated quest for success in her passion. She was determined, she was courageous, but she’d been burnt along the way. You could see it, feel it. She was extraordinarily human in a hard edge, I fought for this kind of way.
My older daughter was soft and gentle, unsure and timid, I was her protector. PINK was a fantastic antidote for her. She loved the show. Loved it with a passion. Her next birthday party was a PINK party. I wonder if that was the start of her finding her voice? I don’t know but find her voice she did. She is now a fierce and fabulous 29-year-old head teacher.
This time I took my second daughter, Miss currently 11. She was born fierce. She is fire and ice. Black and white. She doesn’t do grey. She was torn between seeing Tay Tay and PINK. I gave in and we saw both (don’t judge, I wanted to see PINK too). She found a soul sister in PINK. Absolutely slayed it was the summary! She loved her with the same intensity my oldest daughter did back in 2006.
How does one performer maintain her appeal across generations? How does she resonate so completely with two very different 11-year-olds – 18 years apart?
My theory – it’s her absolute authenticity. Without comparing Tay Tay and Pink – because it isn’t a competition, and we can (and do) adore them both. PINK is loose and free and has found her voice through pain and suffering and fire and ice. Although unlike my second daughter she is all grey these days. It feels like she found the light and shade and has embraced it. She is depth and truth, compassion and bravery. I feel like she is at the pinnacle of her heroine’s journey. She was free on that stage and genuinely, beautifully happy. A full fist punch to the naysayers. She brought her family along, her daughter sang on one song, her son came on the stage and cheekily grabbed sweets, she joked with the crowd. She is who she is and clearly happy with that.
I think that’s my takeout. Two very different daughters, on two very different journeys. Both so different at 11, but both loving PINK and all her fierceness. Both resonating with this strong, powerful woman who can fly as well as sing beautifully. What a woman! This Festival of Fierce Women is making my heart sing!
