Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder Book Review

Part of the fight for equality is the way we are treated as children. Boys are taught that taking risks and getting dirty is just part of being a boy. It’s fine if a knee is scraped or the goal is not achieved. Girls are taught to not take risks, to stay clean. If a girl skins scrapes her knee or does not achieve her goal, it’s akin to the end of the world.

Written by Reshma Saujani, Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder, was published last month. In a nutshell, Ms. Saujani describes how girls are raised to be perfect and how that has a negative emotional and mental impact later in life. Interviewing a variety of women, the message is that it’s ok to fail and make mistakes. It is a message that women desperately need to hear.

If I can describe this book in one word, it would be empowering. When we as women are allowed to fail and make mistakes, it is a weight of off our shoulders. It also helps, especially when it comes to mental health and self-esteem issues.

I recommend it.

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William Ryan Key Tour Review

When bands breakup, the question of where the individual artists go musically hangs over the head of both the fans and the performers.

Last night, William Ryan Key (former front man of the pop-punk band Yellowcard) performed last night at Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Performing songs from his 2018 solo albums, Thirteen and Virtue (in addition to some old Yellowcard classics), stripped back music to what it should be: a band, a mic, instruments and an audience who has as deep affinity for the artists on stage.

Though the performance space is limited in the number fans it can hold, it was the perfect venue for an intimate performance. Instead of the larger concert venues that Key played while in Yellowcard, Baby’s All Right allows Key to have an intimate, one on one conversation with the small group of fans who know him and love him as an artist.

It was one of the best Friday nights I have had in a long time. I recommend the concert and the albums.