Demi Lovato is opening up about her year so far, during which she said she’s ‘experienced extreme highs and lows.’
In a new essay for Vogue on Tuesday, the I Love Me songstress, 28, shared her candid thoughts on the still-present coronavirus pandemic, as well as reflections on the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements.
‘Depression and mental illness are part of my history, and because of all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, my anxiety skyrocketed,’ Demi wrote toward the beginning of her powerful missive.
Reflection: Demi Lovato is opening up about her year so far, during which she said she’s ‘experienced extreme highs and lows’; seen here in January performing at the Grammys
She said that with all the sudden downtime, she began to ask herself all sort of questions: ‘”What’s important to me?” “What’s going to get me through this?” “How can I remain positive?”
‘I knew that I wanted to learn something from this time that could actually better my life, my mental health and my emotional wellbeing in the long term,’ she continued.
Ultimately, Lovato credited her fiance Max Ehrich with helping her rise above her anxiety.
In a new essay: Demi shared her candid thoughts on the still-present coronavirus pandemic, as well as reflections on the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements; seen on Instagram
‘Because my fiancé is so positive all the time, I just started picking up on the things he does,’ she wrote, mentioning meditation, journaling and other creative pursuits as ways in which she bettered her mental state.
It was then that Demi touched upon a theme she’s discussed several times before – the need to remove stigma around mental health, depression and anxiety.
‘One positive thing about the pandemic is that it has shone a spotlight on mental health in a way like never before. For so many years, mental illness was seen as shameful. I certainly felt ashamed; I was made to feel ashamed. This comes from ignorance.’
‘Depression and mental illness are part of my history, and because of all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, my anxiety skyrocketed,’ Demi wrote; seen in February
Later in her letter, the Grammy nominee touched upon her experience around the time that Ahmaud Arbery’s murder gained national attention, and the Black Lives Matter movement came into full focus.
Demi expressed one way in which she felt her white privilege: ‘I grew up listening to Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and other soulful singers, but those two Black women in particular shaped me into the vocalist I am. If you look at my life, everything that I have — money, success, a roof over my head — it’s because of the inspiration those Black women gave me.
‘So here I am, sitting in a home that I was able to afford with the money that I have from singing, while people of colour are fearing for their lives every day,’ she added. ‘I realised this was a lightning bolt jolting through my body, where I was reminded of my privilege. I felt an overwhelming responsibility to help spread awareness about this injustice, so I began posting things that I thought would educate people.’
‘I knew that I wanted to learn something from this time that could actually better my life, my mental health and my emotional wellbeing in the long term,’ she also wrote; seen here performing at the Super Bowl in February
Then, the outspoken entertainer shared what many white allies have expressed feeling as the BLM protests were underway, and social media began filling with calls to action to help people of color.
‘At first, I was self-conscious about speaking out about these issues because I didn’t want anyone to feel like it wasn’t genuine. I also felt like I wanted to call every person of color that I knew and apologize, which I know isn’t the right thing to do either. Like a lot of people, I didn’t know what to do.
‘All I knew was that I hated that I shared the same skin color as the people accused of committing heinous crimes against Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many, many other Black lives,’ she continued.
Part of the solution, Demi wrote, is the need for ‘inclusivity.’
Later in her letter: the Grammy nominee touched upon her experience around the time that Ahmaud Arbery’s murder gained national attention; seen on Instagram last year
‘Creating environments where women, people of colour and trans people feel safe is important. Not just safe, but equal to their cis, white, male counterparts.’
Toward the end of the essay, the Confident hitmaker again touched upon her ‘whirlwind romance’ with actor Ehrich, 29, and remembered the painful loss of her father, who died in 2013.
And in closing, she wrote about what she plans to achieve moving forward.
‘I want to put my energy into my music and my advocacy work. I want to continue to strive to be a better person. I want to inspire people in many different ways to do the same. Above all, I want to leave the world a better place than when I got here.’
Toward the end of the essay: The Confident hitmaker talked about her ‘whirlwind romance’ with actor Max Ehrich, to whom she is engaged