There are performances you watch… and then there are performances you feel. The kind that stays with you long after the music fades. Watching some YouTube videos over the past few days since Justin Bieber’s performance at Coachella last weekend has been one of those moments.
It was something far more intimate, more vulnerable than I could have imagined. It felt like witnessing a beautiful love story unfolding.
It was beyond brave.
Honouring that little boy who grew up in the spotlight, the one who was catapulted into fame before he had the chance to fully understand the weight of it. A child who, in many ways, wasn’t protected the way he should have been. You could feel it woven into every video clip of his younger self but Instead of leaving that younger version of himself behind, he seemed to be doing something far more powerful. Loving himself out loud. Loving his inner child.
Almost like he was asking for forgiveness.
And acceptance.
Watching him learn, in real time, how to parent himself. Meeting his pain with compassion instead of running from it.
Justin Bieber has spent so much of his life being watched, judged, and let’s be honest, misunderstood. He’s had to justify himself in ways most of us will never experience. His choices, his marriage, his growth, even who he is as a person. And yet, through all of that, he continues to show up as himself. Still healing. Still evolving.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the Biebs. Maybe it’s because he’s still so rooted in where he came from; a small town in Ontario. Maybe it’s that he’s still a die-hard Leafs fan. Or maybe, and more likely, it’s because I see pieces of myself in him. Minus the fame and fortune that is.
Watching parts of that performance stirred something deeply personal in me. As someone who wrestles with their own inner child—who feels the echoes of childhood trauma continue to resurface in unexpected ways, I recognized that same longing. That same need to go back and say, I’m sorry. Or, I’ve got your back.
I’ve written love letters to my younger self before. Words filled with apologies, compassion, and tenderness.
But watching the Biebs perform made me wonder; what would my healing look like if I tried singing a lullaby to that little girl. To help reach that part of me that is still waiting to be seen, heard, and held. Maybe one day I could get Justin to sing it for me. Or better yet, sing it to me!
This is a piece I wrote a year ago to my younger self.
https://wheredidmommyssmilego.com/2025/03/08/coffee-with-my-younger-self/
#biebs #coachella #innerchild #mentalhealth @lilbieber
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