“My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom” - Beyoncé

Beyonce vs. Taylor.

Can we stop? It's such bullsh*t. This has nothing to do with who is better. It has everything to do with women using their power, visibility, and visionary creativity to influence the culture to include us in the story.

Between the two of them, their respective Renaissance and Eras tours will gross over $3 Billion dollars in sales and their concert movies will amass over $110 M.

BRAVA!

And not only that, both movies showcased backup dancers and featured players who were pregnant, all shapes and sizes, colors, sexual orientation, and celebrated in a way that I've never seen before.

Ooooo we've come a LONG way from the 90's ultra rail thin homogenized representation of the Britneys, Christinas, etc.

In the Hare Lair (our affectionate term for our family home), Fridays are movie nights. And very often, we are revisiting some 90's favorite movies...

Which very few, of course, even remotely hold up to today's post-metoo standards.

Cases in point: Me, Myself, and Irene - while still hilarious (Jim Carrey will forever be the funniest), Billy Madison, Tommy Boy, Happy Gilmore, countless others -

Each of these movies feature love interests who are pretty, thin, white, and usually blonde (no offense, blonde readers!).

Their purpose is ONLY to be the object of desire for the male protagonist. That's it.

The 2-dimensional representation of objectified beauty with zero backstory as a prized reward is old, tired...

And frankly, I believe that it's the reason why we as women got caught in the crosshairs of the "find a man, all will be taken care of" and the "f that, I can do this on my own."

It's encouraging to see more multi-dimensional female characters today as our cultural lexicon evolves to a deeper connective one.

Did you watch 13 Reasons Why? The dark, yet very evocative show about a teenage girl who died by suicide and left 13 tapes for 13 people of how they contributed to her decision to do it.

I was taken aback by the unapologetic and deep back stories of each of the characters - but especially the popular pretty girls who deeply struggled with keeping up with this image to BE cool and popular.

Or Jennifer Aniston's character on The Morning Show. A prominent and beloved TV news anchor who presumably is in her 40's or 50's (can someone give me her plastic surgeon's number?) and doesn't wince when speaking her mind to powerful men who find her irresistible - despite her very public missteps and imperfect shortcomings.

So what does all that mean for us?

It's a permission slip for us to lay the armor down and be unapologetically and bravely --- ourselves.

As for Bey and Tay - I couldn't imagine the sheer WEIGHT of stepping on that stage to sold out stadiums all across the world - and laying their hearts bare by sharing their art and gifts with us.

With a continuous emphasis on sharing the pain, the struggle, the loneliness, the intense pressure, the alienation that we all feel - and the power of creating a space and community where you can be your weird self and be loved - all while filling your hearts with relentlessly hooky music.

May we all be brave enough to shine brighter whether it's as a proud stay-at-home mom, a newly single divorcee back on the dating scene, or letting your inner freak flag fly high. #shinebrighter

In case you didn't hear Late Learner's latest podcast episode, HUGE breakthroughs are in store for you here:

LISTEN HERE: Ambition, Motherhood, Bold Moves,& Balancing it All with Cherylanne Skolnicki

Okay, gonna go shake it to Pure/Honey for the 837102843601th time!

Signed,

Swiftie Beyhive lover, Allison xo

PS. Jane's wisdom is just what you need to hear right now.

PPS. Join us for the December Clearing Challenge here - get rid of what's weighing you down - not just physical, but emotionally and spiritually. FREE and SO effective!

PPPS. Podcast beta is getting filled up! AND we pushed out the start date until January. So if you ever wanted to launch a podcast, I'm doing a test run at a much-lowered rate for those ready. Interested? Just email me back the word PODCAST and I'll get you more info.