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It was ten years ago that Gaelynn Lea rose to fame by winning the NPR Music Tiny Desk contest. Her memory of getting the call is the first chapter of her new book “It Wasn’t Meant to Be Perfect.” Lea was born with the rare genetic disease Osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bones disease. Her memoir traces her upbringing in Duluth and how she’s navigated her disability in all different facets of life. 

Lea spoke to MPR News host Kelly Gordon about her memoir. 

The following was edited for length and clarity. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

What was the moment where you decided you needed to tell your full story?

After a show, one of the people in the audience came up and was like, “I really think you should write a memoir.” And that just planted the seed. And then the more I thought about it, you know, I do a lot of public speaking about disability in addition to doing concerts. And I'm always surprised by how much people say they learn, because I just don't think we learn enough about disability in traditional schools. 

What can people with and without disabilities takeaway from this book?

I hope that people with disabilities will see parts of their own story in the book. Pretty much everything that I decided to keep in the final draft are things that I think you will have experienced yourself if you’re disabled, on some level, maybe a different version of the same idea, because they're pretty universal concepts.

If you’re not disabled, my goal is twofold. First, I want people to realize that having a disability does not mean that your life is automatically going to be not fulfilling or not satisfying or creative, but that it does require support of the community, of the government, of health care —  like it does require those things, because it's such a big barrier if you don't have support in if in this society. 

My goal is, once you’re done reading it, you have a better understanding of people with disabilities are just regular people who do really need that support. And what can you do to be a part of the solution and move it forward. I really hope that it inspires people to think about their own lives in the way that maybe they can help move things forward. 

The title alludes to the concept of perfectionism. And talk about your introduction to fiddle music that allowed you to let go of the perfectionism you internalized playing classical orchestral music. Do you have to actively work to keep that joy and not let perfection get in the way?

I must say, I think it's a continual struggle. I think of playing music is sort of like a form of meditation. You never just get to say, “oh, I've mastered that, and I never have to think about it again.” 

And so for me, music on a good day, music is something that it connects you to this higher energy. I think it feels like a divine energy personally. And so when you get caught up in the perfection mind set, that is sort of like you getting too self focused. And so I really try to zoom out when I see myself doing that. Music is just so much bigger than I think we give it credit for.

How did the creative process of writing a book differ or stay the same, from writing music or playing music?

Well, I must say, it took a lot of discipline, more than I was used to. And so it was a pretty intense journey. It's always super hard to sit down and write. I don't know what that is. I'd rather like pay my taxes. But then once I was doing it, I did start to feel a lot of the same creative buzz that I feel when I write music or when I perform. 

The ending of the book came to me really suddenly, as like a download kind of thing, and that's exactly how songwriting feels. So it was really interesting to see that writing a book did have these moments that paralleled songwriting.

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“It Wasn’t Meant to Be Perfect,” traces Lea’s upbringing in Duluth, her rise to fame after winning NPR Music’s Tiny Desk contest in 2016, and how she’s navigated her disability throughout her life. 

Duluth musician Gaelynn Lea releases her first memoir

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