There was something rather endearing about seeing the pop star Chappell Roan earnestly clutching her journal as she received her Best New Artist Grammy last night.
I do love a woman whose idea of a statement accessory is a notebook.
It was clear how determined she was to impart her message, directed at record companies, about the need to provide a liveable wage and healthcare to new and emerging artists, with clarity and conviction.
This is part of what she said: “I told myself if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists offer a liveable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists.”
“Because I got signed so young — I got signed as a minor — and when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt and, like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in a pandemic and could not afford health insurance.”
“It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanised to not have healthcare.”
I not only love the message but love the fact that she had thought it through, written it down and then taken her notebook on stage with her in order to say everything she needed to.
No sentence went unread.
Advocating for yourself, and your fellow artists, on a world stage is a pretty bold move and now, in my mid-fifties, I dearly wish I’d been able to speak up for myself when I was younger.
I was often bullied at school and later, in the workplace.
What did I do?
I wrote poetry that nobody ever read. I should have been more vocal on many, many levels.
There’s something to be said about not just writing the words but having the means - and the balls - to impart them to a wider audience. Substack is a pretty good delivery service for that kind of thing.
And this epiphany comes, for me, at a delicate time. In the last couple of days, I’ve had so many doubts about my ability to write my novel, I was a fake eyelash away from throwing in the towel.
After listening to her speech, and the way she trembled from emotion as she read from her journal, I felt invigorated. Energised, even.
More importantly, it reminded me of why I do this, why I started this particular book and why I need to carry on. Yes, it’s to entertain but I also have a point to make and while I have no idea if anyone will ever read or hear it, I strongly feel I should at least give myself the chance to tell the story.
To that end, my notebook will not be leaving my side for the foreseeable future.
Coco Chanel (allegedly) famously said that you need to remove at least one accessory before you leave the house. Well, Coco, I can do without the earrings but the notebook stays.
Have a great week everyone!
Lisa
The irony is, if you had said the words, you would have never written the poetry. Probably.