June - Brave

A good day and happy Pride Month to you all! Isn’t it weird that half of 2022 is already over?! It feels like the year is only getting started properly right now.

 

The song we chose this month is called “Brave” and it’s written by Sara Bareilles. It talks about being brave (big surprise there) but being brave can be applied in a variety of topics.

 

But I wonder what would happen if you

Say what you wanna say

And let the words fall out

Honestly I wanna see you be brave

 

I didn’t know this song until I stumbled upon it in a random Internet article regarding Pride Month. In the article it was mentioned that Sara and her co-writer wrote this song for a friend who was struggling to come out as gay to their friends and family. I felt it was fitting for June and sent the song to Lina and after a bit of reconciling we decided to write about it.

 

At first I actually wasn’t sure if I liked the song as a piece of music. It was just ... meh. Yes, the message is good, I didn’t know how to feel about the melody and the tune though. But after listening a bit more, I really grew attached to it. Yes, the message and meaning are still in the foreground of my focus, but I’ve come to think that it’s quite a good song too!

 

Now, back to the topic: what can actually be considered being brave?

 

In my opinion bravery doesn’t have to be the storybook kind with fairy tale heroes. Everyone has the potential to be brave, in their own way. Just stepping out of your comfort zone a tiny bit is absolutely valid! We can’t all do crazy and extreme things every day.

I am looking for ways to be a little more courageous every day. Even if it’s just wearing that one outfit, I wasn’t sure about, talking in class or speaking up, when someone talks bad about my friends or something I support. It’s important for me to at least try, because I always feel better and proud of myself afterwards.

These are some of the little things we can do every day, things we can choose to do.

 

Some of us don’t have a choice though, they have to be brave every day. Maybe you are being bullied and still have to go to school every day, or you have a family member who suffers from a disease and you have to live with that all your time, or you are part of the LGBTQ community and don’t have a supporting family and therefore cannot express yourself and come out. All of these situations are examples of circumstances where one has to be extremely brave. And that’s just a few scenarios, there are so many more.

 

I want to emphasise on the topic of daily bravery a little more, especially speaking up for yourself and being honest. I think many people consider themselves honest people, but most don’t realise how many apparently insignificant lies we tell every day. Just small little things, that we don’t even register most of the time, that aren’t usually meant in a negative way either. Maybe something like not telling the truth when someone asks about how a piece of clothing looks on them or if they did something well. We might brush it off and just say “oh, that looks good, you” or “that was a good presentation” while actually not thinking that. Maybe we’re just afraid of hurting the other one’s feelings and yet, it may be meant well but still is a lie.

 

This is not to say, that you shouldn’t do that. Sometimes it’s better not to say outright, that you hate your friend’s outfit (although you could phrase it a bit differently and get away with it, depends on the person). But to me it is admirable when people just say what they think, no conditions.

My best friend is probably the most honest person I know and somehow manages to not appear like a total asshole. People know how they manage situations like that and, while it takes some getting used to, once you know how they do things and handle opinions and points of view, no one complains. I for one admire them for this and to be honest, I wish I could be like that a little more.

 

I am seventeen years old, and as I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I used to be very timid and shy until I was about 7 years old, when I broke out of my shell and stepped into my talents and abilities. I started being brave and have yet to regret a single second of it in all those 10 years.

So I hereby encourage you to do the same. Go out and show the worlds that you can be brave! Say what you wanna say and be brave!

 

Love, Ina

Happy June from my side too :)
How you doin’, what’ve you been up to, have you already smiled today…? Okay listen up:

 

But I wonder what would happen if you
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave

 

This month’s song is called “Brave” by Sara Bareilles and again I didn’t know the song before Ina suggested it haha. Well, maybe I should suggest a song sometime in the next few months, the thing is just that then I probably just won’t be able to decide…
Anyways, there’ll only be a few words from my side (well…) this time so let me start right here.

 

You know, sometimes I really do wonder what would happen if I just said what I want to say and actually not give a you know what about what others might think. I can say that I started to act up more and say things when I feel like they just have to be said, even if people might not like them, I’ve become better at that. And I always feel better when I do that instead of sitting quiet and keeping these words for me. For a long time I thought “Yeah, I do me and it’s better to keep things for myself because others wouldn’t even understand or bother”. The “you do you” part is true, but in a different way – I do things my way, you do things your way; I have certain opinions, you have certain opinions;… and these things vary from person to person. So yes, you do you. But you can share what you do, let others hear your story. You have so much potential and I think it’s way too much of a shame to not even let others know. Of course there’ll always be people who disagree, there’ll even be people who might start thinking less of you because of your viewpoints. But then that’s their loss. Because then, they don’t even have the bit of open-mindedness to just try to understand you. You should never feel limited by others because what you think is important. Letting yourself be limited by others is the real problem, because then you let them control you and start limiting yourself. For sure, everybody will be wrong at times, make mistakes, say things which might not be true. But then it’s even better to speak up – to get in connection with others and hear their side, maybe let them show something you would have never thought about. Sometimes I catch myself thinking “Okay, I would have never come to that idea” when talking to others. That’s always pretty fun.

In my view I think it simply requires both sides. The brave side as well as the understanding side.
The brave side speaks up, says what it means without overthinking, doesn’t care if it could be wrong and just has the guts to raise its voice. And the understanding side listens to others, has an open ear to different viewpoints and is ready to try to understand or accept them, maybe even integrate them and learn from them. One side alone can’t exist – you can’t always expect others to agree with you. But you also can’t always be the one who agrees with everything.

 

Take some advice from me who has just come back home from sports week with my class and who has gone on a mountain bike trip – me, the one who loves drawing, reading and cooking – up a mountain at like 28°C with a sports professor who’s in peak condition, a classmate who plays football three to four times a week and another classmate who’s basically good at every sport I know. (Wow that sentence was long). My brave ass pedaled up that crazily steep mountain, way behind the other three. In the end I was simply glad I survived. And I was proud. Maybe it’s not that comparable in the context with the speaking up but still, being brave comes in different ways I think that sentence up there sounds cool and has to be said :) So take my advice – and I dare to say that now even if I might “only” be fifteen years old – being brave is worth it. Not always easy and scary in the process, but worth it.

I hope you enjoyed reading & I’ll see you in July.

 

Be brave

 

Love, Lina