Kate Ceberano AM is a Melbourne-born singer whose solo album Brave earned her a 1989 ARIA Award for Best Female Artist. A year later, she won another ARIA for Best Female Artist, as well as one for Highest Selling Single. Her achievements now include five platinum albums, five gold albums and more than 1.5 million albums sold in Australia alone.

Dear Kate,

How’s it going? How are you dealing with all the savage changes that are occurring to your body and to the world around you? It’s kinda tough, yes? I know!

And there is so much I can tell you but I’m afraid you will probably continue to do it the way you will do it, because that is the way you have always gone about doing things. You will rarely repeat the same mistake twice, but you will make mistakes. But, you will learn from these mistakes … painful mistakes, embarrassing mistakes and sometimes heartbreaking mistakes, but you’d rather make them than be warned off them. It seems to be a part of your character.

This character trait is both beautiful and brave, and yet will be frustrating to you and the people who love you.

So, I will go against nature and tell you a few things to avoid, and hopefully you will listen and change your mind, and avert some dangers that lie ahead.

You will be choosing one of the most dangerous industries, fraught with emotional blackmail, greed, materialism and double values. It attracts villains and good guys alike … they are all attracted by the attention that you can create. It’s like a bankable currency that those who love money and pretty things can’t help but fall in love with. They will seek to own you, alter you and influence you, and you must resist. They will appear to know more than you and will tell you so in order to control your choices. But that is what you have that is Golden and must be protected at all cost. Choice!!!!!!

You can motivate the world around you by making strong, meaningful choices. Choices that lead you toward the greater good of those around you. So when you become a leader (and you will be one in many areas of your life) in your band, or helping others on a community council, or when you become a festival director or even when you’re singing in the chorus in ensemble … no matter how big or small, your choice is your choice and is more important than responsibility. I say that because to be responsible sometimes can feel anti-intuitive, especially when you are obliged to be responsible. If you CHOOSE to be responsible then that is the higher path.

Because the artist has only her choice. And it defines her actions above all others. It’s what makes her talent ignite and consequently affect the world around her. Good and bad.

It’s the fragile flower that blooms only when it is admired … by you!

And if your choices are compromised you may lose confidence in yourself and perhaps, from time to time, wish that you were someone else. You may get sad and compare yourself to others and come up short. You may decide to be influenced and follow others and discover that you no longer know your own mind. And forget that you ever had a choice.

But you do! And you always will.

Be brave and know that you inherited a kindness (from Grandma Kath) that is innate to you and your wish to be liked by others is actually a nice quality.

You seek to serve and your pay for helping others is to feel included. There is no crime in desiring this, but know this much … Not everyone will like you and it will hurt. Life has many different types of people and some simply reject kindness like a knee-jerk reaction. Some instinctively distrust kindness and consider that it has something unknown behind it. But as your daughter says (and, yes, you will have a beautiful girl full of kindness and grace), all people are good but some are trained badly! This is a very wise statement. You cannot alter the fact that some people will endure all kinds of unkindness before they meet or work with you, and for them it will be synonymous with pain.

This all seems very heavy, I know, but you must be warned and try not to be liked by such people. You will break your heart trying.

On the upshot … you have a most amazing career ahead of you, full of travel, full of love and music. And you will touch people with your song and bring comfort to many.

You are your own person; lead by example and never stop trying to improve yourself and the world around you. If you keep at it, you may even leave a path for others to follow.

Grace is eternal! Live a graceful life … and have FUN!!!!!!!

Love you.