From this month's issue of Women's Health
Hot Pink!
She's a daredevil who's not afraid to say what she thinks and pull off crazy stunts. But that doesn't mean this rock star never gets scared - she's simply honed the skill of pushing past fear to score the big, badass life she always wanted.
Imagine you're in a box suspended high above the stage at an outdoor music festival, hovering over an audience just anticipating the intentional 200-foot free fall you're about to plunge into.
Stop there. You'd never put yourself in that position, right? Most of us wouldn't.
Then again, we're not Pink.
"It's always scary, every single time," says the multiplatinum singer, who opened shows on her last tour with this crazy stunt. Still, night after night, there she was in that box. (For her current The Truth About Love Tour, which returns to the U.S. in October, her wild stunts involve Cirque du Soleil-esque moves and a bungee-style drop.)
The word fearless gets thrown around a lot when it comes to Pink, with her tough-girl reputation and outsize personality - no to mention that snarl-face she loves to make. But if she leaves the impression that she never gets scared, she doesn't mean to.
Plenty of things frighten her: She can rattle off a list of phobias, from spiders to sharks to being alone ("I am a person who needs affection. Some call it needy. I call it yummy," Pink explains) without a second thought.
What she isn't is paralyzed by that fear. Not when she's standing up for something she believes in on Twitter; not when a menacing paparazzo hangs outside her house and photographs her 2-year-old daughter, Willow; and not when she's invited to play a very raw recovering sex addict in the movie Thanks for Sharing, out this September, and also starring Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow. No, the minute something makes the 34-year-old performer afraid, that's the minute she knows she has to dive the hell in.
A League of Her Own
In the high-ceilinged, toy-scattered kitchen of Pink's home in Malibu, which comes complete with jaw-dropping views of the Santa Monica Mountains, her colorist, Naomi Knights, dyes Pink's hair a silvery-blonde color that's so pretty it's a shame people aren't actually born with it. On the wall are framed pictures of her idol, Janis Joplin - another transgressive artist.
Growing up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Pink was told by her father that she could do anything she wanted to, as long as she remained true to herself and wasn't swayed by other people's opinions. He borrowed a life mantra from Hamlet's Polonius: To thine ownself be true. "My dad used to drill it into my head that sometimes you have to stand on the mountain alone," says Pink. "'You're perfect just the way you are, and I think, more important, that you're smart and funny and talented.' I just had the right people in my life. And I had points to prove. I liked being different."
While the other girls opted for ballet, she started doing gymnastics when she was 4 - one reason she incorporates acrobatics into her tour shows today. "It's just that feeling of conquering your fear and of being able to use your body and every muscle."
She got kicked out of Sunday school for being mouthy. She went to the skate park with her friends and actually learned to fly off ramps and do heel flips instead of just ogling the boys. At 15, she dropped out of high school. Around the same time, her mom kicked her out of the house, which, in retrospect, Pink understands:
As a teenager, "I was the devil's spawn."
Outside the Box
Around that time, Alecia Moore (her real name) took the moniker Pink and moved to Los Angeles. She garnered fame at a time when Hollywood was littered with pretty blonde pop stars such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson.
"I didn't feel a part of that at all," says the singer. "I just came from a different life. It was like Crocodile Dundee when he first goes to New York City. That was me, in the pop landscape in early 2000."
But she didn't let anyone turn her into another bubblegum princess, instead releasing powerful, throaty hits - about loneliness, alienation, heartache - that resonated with fans. "I met to many people who felt exactly about themselves the way that I did, and that made me sad." But, she adds, "It makes you feel less alone. And less crazy. And less judgmental of yourself."
And, paradoxically, that sense of community only confirmed her individualism. She continued to stand her own ground and never tried to fit in where she didn't belong. "I've always been a tomboy, and I've always been athletic," she says.
"And when you're an athletic girl, it automatically makes you a different kind of girl. And the extensions and the nails and the boobs - your brain is concentrated on different things. It's not How can I look pretty so that people will like me? It's How can I win this?" Ironically, it was this pluck, this originality, that attracted CoverGirl to her as a makeup spokesmodel.
"When CoverGirl called, I was totally surprised and flattered. No one had ever singled me out in 'that' way before. Any girl likes to feel beautiful sometimes. I thought about all the ladies out there who also had never been singled out in 'that' way. I thought if they saw me being appreciated, they would feel more appreciated."
The Greatest of All
Becoming a wife and, especially, a mother, has changed Pink's life. Coping with the anxiety of having a significant other with a risky job has become de rigueur - "I'm used to him keeping me up at night," she says of hubby Carey Hart, a motocross star - but she wasn't prepared for the trepidation that comes with motherhood. "A mom fear is a different kind of fear," she says. "It's all-encompassing. You just want to make sure that no matter what happens in the world everything is taken care of." Now, when she hears about Sandy Hook or Aurora or any other random act of violence, she has to decide all over again if she's still that gutsy, determined person. "I mean, I'm actually proud of human beings for getting out of bed in the morning at this point and not being completely anxiety-ridden!" she says.
Summoning Courage
So how does she deal...and even get stronger? By expecting fear - and actually courting it by continuing to push herself - then developing strategies for working through it. For one, she seeks out peaceful, meditative activities (her latest endeavor: stand-up paddleboarding). Expressing herself is also a form of therapy:
"I've exorcised so many demons by writing and singing and having shows with all these people who feel the way I do."
Another simple trick? Put things in perspective. "School yourself quickly," she says. "Just [say], 'OK, it's over. Yeah, that just happened. Whatever. Is it going to matter in a year? No, I probably won't remember it. Do I really care what that person thinks as much as I'm feeling like I do? No." Resilience is a muscle. Flex it enough and it will take less effort to get over emotional punches each time.
It's not that Pink is immune to fear and self-doubt; she just doesn't let them rule her life. "You don't change how sensitive you are. You just concentrate on other things; you allow the feelings to come in and go. You find strength in your crazy parts." Recently, she started attending hot yoga classes - and was taken aback by how overwhelming they are. "I had to sit down four times and really decide who I am and whether I wanted to stay." You can probably guess what she decided to do.
Body of Work
Pink works out five times a week, often with trainer Jeanette Jenkins, on everything from circuit training to treadmill intervals. ("She's a beast," says Pink of Jenkins.) While on tour, she exercises whenever she can for endurance. "Otherwise," she jokes, "I'll sound like an 85-year-old asthmatic smoker."
Music to Her Ears
"Willow wants to hear 'Gangnam Style' - maybe that's why I've shut down[listening to a lot of music]," Pink says, laughing. When she does,
here's what she's into: the Lumineers, First Aid Kit, Churchill, the Hives, and City and Colour.
Vice Squad
Pink stopped smoking when she became pregnant with Willow, and other than that, she has few vices. "I drink really good wine and high-caliber whiskey. I probably laugh too loud in restaurants," she says. She's not willing to give up her less-virtuous favorite foods, like bread, cheese, and pasta. The key, she says, is balance. "I would like to be more disciplined, but I just really enjoy food. I have an Italian mindset when it comes to food and family and festivities. It's like, just enjoy life. Try to eat clean as much as possible, I'd love to be 10 pounds thinner, but it's not in the cards for me. And I'm totally OK with that."
And another random quote:
"Peer acceptance was never more important than me being myself."
Thanks to unique_jana3 from P!nk's Page for typing this out!
http://pink.shread.net/forum/showthr...hreadid=192654
