What’s up?
It’s Sussan Mourad here with Clevver News and Demi Lovato just revealed that she wrote
her late father a letter to “release all of the resentments” she had towards him
in an effort to put her mental health first.
Demi just published a powerful new essay in Vogue where she talks about everything from
the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, to her relationship with her fiancé Max Ehrich,
to how she’s maintained her mental wellbeing amid the ongoing pandemic.
But one portion of her essay in particular caught fans’ attention.
In the section titled “A year of growth,” Demi opens up about her relationship with
her late father, Patrick Lovato, and how she actually wrote a gratitude letter to him,
despite his abusive past.
Demi opened the segment of her essay talking about how this year has been full of high
highs and low lows.
She wrote quote, “Nobody’s had a perfect 2020.
Far from it.
What we all need to realise, though, is that it’s OK for things not to be OK sometimes.
Personally, I’ve experienced extreme highs and lows.
I met my fiancé in March and I fell in love with him.
We’ve had this whirlwind romance and have been able to spend this time together.
But I’ve also lost several people this year, which was tough.”
Demi then went on to talk about the anniversary of her late father’s death.
As fans may know, Demi had previously revealed that her dad was abusive.
He passed away from cancer back in 2013.
In her 2017 YouTube docuseries, Demi explained that she was quote, “very conflicted when
he passed, because he was abusive.
He was mean, but he wanted to be a good person.
And he wanted to have his family, and when my mom married my step-dad, he still had this
huge heart where he said, ‘I’m so glad that he’s taking care of you and doing the
job that I wish I could do.’”
And so in her recent essay for Vogue, Demi explained how she honored her father this
year on the anniversary of his passing by releasing her past resentments towards him.
She said quote, “There was the anniversary of my father’s death, which is a couple
of days after Father’s Day — a really hard time of year for me.
But this year, something happened.
I wrote a gratitude letter to him, thanking him for all the things that I got from him.
It was this beautiful release of all the resentments I had towards him.
I realized, for the first time, that I wasn’t going to have daddy issues for the rest of
my life.
In short, 2020 has been a year of growth.”
Demi also detailed how her relationship with her fiancé Max has really helped her become
more positive, even during a challenging year.
She said quote, “My fiancé is so positive all the time, I just started picking up on
the things he does.
I started meditating and doing yoga.
I started journaling, painting, taking pictures and being creative, and learning to appreciate
nature, after realizing I’d been taking it for granted all this time.”
And even outside of meeting her fiancé, Demi revealed that this time in quarantine has
actually had a positive impact on her mental health.
She said quote, “As a society, we’ve become used to a particular mentality, one where
we feel we must get ahead and be the best all of the time.
It’s exhausting.
Then, all of a sudden, a pandemic hits and everyone is forced to stop and think.
I started to ask myself questions: ‘What’s important to me?’
‘What’s going to get me through this?’
‘How can I remain positive?’
… And having so much downtime during quarantine has given me the space to realize there’s
so much more I could be doing to help other people.”
And during this time Demi explained that she’s taken the time to educate herself on the importance
of the Black Lives Matter movement and she’s woken up to her own privilege she has due
to the color of her skin.
She talked about learning how to be a better ally, saying quote, “After taking some time
to educate myself, what I’ve learned is that to be a good ally, you need to be willing
to protect people at all costs.
You have to step in if you see something happening that’s not right: a racist act, a racist
comment, a racist joke.
And it’s not just with Black Lives Matter.
It’s also with the Me Too movement.
Finally, the world is waking up and it’s beautiful to witness.”
She concluded her essay writing “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.
There are a lot of things that need to be done before that, but together I believe we
can make it happen.
You just need to be a little bit hopeful.”
Fans rushed to Twitter to share their love and support for Demi since she’s published
this essay.
One person wrote quote, “I just read it.
I'm so happy you have taken time during this pandemic to focus on your mental health!
That is SO important, for everyone!
Thank you for always speaking up and bringing attention to important topics like mental
health & BLM we love you!”
Another fan chimed in saying “Thank you for writing this piece and choosing to share
it with us.
This year has sucked, but it’s opened my eyes, as well as many others’, to the injustices
(and the extent of them) that have plagued this country for centuries.”
And this fan added “thank you for writing this letter and always use your platform for
good.
you inspire me a lot and I felt everything as I read.
thanks for being as you are.
I love you to the moon”
We’re overjoyed to see and hear Demi is so happy and fulfilled this year as she continues
to use her platform to spread awareness about issues she cares about.
If you want more on Demi, click right over here for another Clevver News video.
And let us know down in the comments below what you think about the letter she wrote
in Vogue.
I’m your host, Sussan Mourad, bye guys!