Explaining that she faced every phase of her life as an exclusive opportunity, Dern reveals that believing that she had to give each experience her undivided attention meant that she was constantly holding herself back.

“I’m going to be an actress, but I have to give it everything, so I probably won’t be able to also have a successful relationship,” she says she thought.

“I’m about to be a mother, so I’ll give up my acting.”

Dern illustrates the point with the very public example of Hillary Clinton’s recent presidential campaign – referencing the people who chose to tear her down as she dared to climb the political ladder, with comments such as “Oh, yeah, she’s brilliant, she’s presidential, but she’s cold, so she’s probably not a good wife and mother. She’s not compassionate.”

“Why?”, questions Dern.

“Because she’s brilliant?”

Laura Dern’s open letter to her daughter contains life advice we could all live by