Thursday 25 January 2018

What you can learn from P!nk

Let's talk about P!nk (Alecia Moore)...  There needs to be more recognition for the underdog woman that is P!nk and what she has achieved and stands for.  She delivers empowering and motivational messages, especially when emotions are high and real.  This is why P!nk is my idol.  As a consistent and supportive fan since 'Get The Party Started', I want to share with you what you can learn from P!nk.  I wouldn't be in the position I am today without her being a guide on the side.  You can learn from yourself and others as you'll know, but it's also good to have a role model/idol to look upon from time to time.  To me P!nk provides this and more.  In this post I summarise why she is a great influence for building confidence.

Who Knew

She may be known for her 'diamond in the rough' persona, but actually she's very acute with her points of view.  P!nk represents a true underdog by being a multi-platinum artist, with little glorified recognition through her music, life and philanthropy.  P!nk enables you to listen to your emotions for you to reflect on your life and the choices you make.  Moreover, how you can reinvent yourself, create dreams and goals.  I'll not go into how much I love her, because it is apparent from my appreciation of her.

I understand her journey and her determination to become something better, which is similar to mine.  I'm really inspired by her own personal growth where she went basically from zero to hero.  Although she had ambitions of becoming a superstar she faced many personal challenges and obstacles.  She somehow overcame these and positively used them to scaffold her life and career.  She basically saw the light in the darkest of moments and found positivity and humour within them.  She honestly shares these experiences that eventually become songs that resonate with so many people.  That's another thing I love about her, she is straight to the point in speaking her truth.

Gary drew me this portrait of P!nk for my 30th birthday in 2016.  It's beautifully framed and is a possession that I hold very close to me.

A post shared by Gary Purdy (@gary_purdy) on

To me, ultimately the main reason she is successful is because she ensures that everything that she does is real and true to herself.  She doesn't appear to be anyone or anything else but herself.  This is the main reason for her success, because I feel that people can only truly relate to others' if they are being themselves.  Yes it's good to have props and add a bit of drama when performing, but essentially the person delivering needs to honour themselves to be accepted by the wider audience.

The following video shows P!nk accepting the BMI President’s Award for her outstanding achievement in songwriting and global impact on pop culture and the entertainment industry.


Most Girls


...are not the image that may be projected onto you.  You don't have to be all pretty in pink, long hair, adore make-up, be in a dress and play with dolls.  Most girls are quite the opposite, but that doesn't make them a boy or a freak.   Embrace how P!nk expresses herself the way she wants to be and feel.  You don't have to have the latest hair style or clothes, but whatever you feel comfortable with and reflects your personality.

Trouble

P!nk indefinitely tells us not to be afraid of going against the grain, even if it means disturbing others or your environment for the greater good.  She puts the fire in your belly that gives you the courage to tackle any problems you are facing.  May that be confronting bullies or dealing with the breakdown of a relationship.  She allows yo to open up your mouth and speak what is on your mind, even if it is brutally honest.  She helps you to harness the inner anger you are experiencing and use it towards a good fight.  Her emotional lyrics can help you anchor the emotions to plot a positive revenge that relieves in a fist pump in the air.  Be a fighter and fight for what you believe in!

Try

When you are down P!nk encourages you to get back up again.  No matter what the circumstance, whether it be a relationship or tackling a bit of study.  You can rely on P!nk to give you that push to confidence or seek the truth that resides in you.  Like watching one of her daring aerial performances, she inspires you to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new, despite it leading to success or failure you are left feeling you have made the effort and rest assured, feeling that you have tried rather than choosing not to.  Try to accept the knowledge and skills you have, even if you feel you're not good at using them.  Experience the rights and wrongs, make mistakes and take risks as these will help you to grow as a person.  It can be messy and frustrating at times, but with good intentions it can be rewarding.  Do what P!nk does and dare to challenge yourself!  Like when she recently took her acrobatics to a new height when she scaled a skyscraper to perform Beautiful Trauma at the American Music Awards of 2017.  But one of her most eloquent performances has to be Glitter In The Air at the Grammy Awards 2010 - as always, singing live while doing challenging choreography.

Don't Let Me Get Me

I don't think there's one human that has not judged others or themselves, it's a characteristic built within us.  We are humans and we will want to categorise things and in order to do that we must judge.  It's how we operate to make sense of things.  Sometimes I don't want to be a human because I know what negative things we're capable of doing.  P!nk teaches us to be as you are, even if you are afraid to be judged by others.  Conversely, she allows you to be playful with others, but be prepared to accept the same in return.  If you can give it you must be able to receive it or don't attempt to!

You'll irritate yourself sometimes, but don't let this get to you.  P!nk enables you to feel ok about your internal and external issues; looking and feeling different to others.  It's ok to not be perfect and just being you.  In her speech (video below) at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards she told us exactly to "see different kinds of beauty".  She educated the world to open up their minds and not discount others if they look different, but to accept and appreciate that they are unique, like we all are.  P!nk reminds us that we are not perfect and we can mess up, even if we lie, i.e.  I once shared; "P!nk says love is all lie.  It is true.  We do tend to lie about our feelings for people, or lie to make people happy or lie to ourselves."


Impressive speech, just what we need to hear.  Very moving on how she tells her daughter she's beautiful.

What About Us

When the world gets too much, especially in terms of politics and human rights.  P!nk is there to stand up for you.  It's like she taps into your feelings and is there to support you and help you voice your opinions.  Universal healing at the right time.  She fearlessly challenges the ethics of local and global issues and encourages you to join her in supporting various initiatives.  Below she infamously called out George Bush in an open letter in the form of one of her favourite recordings, Dear Mr. President.  I find it still relevant and very appropriate today.


So What

She manages to keep relevant in her music without changing who she is and much of her musical genre.  She doesn't need to do what most artists do these days and change her genre to cater to a particular market.  She does however include this subtly in her music, but it still remains P!nk.  She has a clever way of subtly incorporating current sounds but not where it affects the dignity of her own unique sound.  People soon get bored of fads and alter egos as they want something real and relatable.  You don't see her going full on dance which appears to be the current music trend dominating the charts.  She keeps to her pop/rock ideal but incorporates different styles within it.  Yes some fans may get bored of her 'samey' style, but clearly it works and appeals to the wider world.  Look at her sales, she consistently sells unlike her peers, who may sell less and less with each album.  Her ego does not seem to go any beyond than her character.  Unlike some artists where they spiral downwards due to it.  Thinking that they are too big to perform at various venues.  Nearly 20 years into her music career and she's still topping charts.  Her lyrical content is always relatable, inspiring, encouraging and supporting, no matter what pathway you have chosen in life there is a P!nk song that will enhance this or support you through it.

P!nk is dark horse, as well as an underdog - which always turn out to be winners in the end.  Whilst many other artists try to keep relevant by recording songs to current music trends or conforming to latest fashion, P!nk remains authentic to her artistry and keeping to her style.  P!nk allows her to be her rather than something that she is not.  Many artists only record forgettable throwaway songs, whilst the majority of P!nk's music has longevity on radio and TV for years.

Raise Your Glass

Yes, raise a glass to yourself!  P!nk encourages us all to celebrate our achievements (small or large), enjoy ourselves and see the beauty we have inside and outside of us.  She encourages us to not to be too serious and express humour, even in the darkest of situations.  She tells us to accept and embrace our imperfections, mistakes and misfortunes and even laugh at them.  Don't take yourself too seriously, aim to have fun with yourself.

There are times when you have to be serious in your life, even to the point of planning and rehearsing.  That said, P!nk has a way of preparing but not where it's too rigid and structured.  Life is to be enjoyed not just to be worked into the ground and P!nk definitely demonstrates this ideal!