September 1 (Bang Showbiz) – Demi Lovato wants to “leave the world a better place” than when she was born.
The ‘Anyone’ hitmaker has reflected on her “year of growth” this year so far, and says that whilst 2020 has been far from “perfect” amid the coronavirus pandemic and the continued fight for racial equality, she has also “experienced extreme highs”, such as her engagement to Max Ehrich this June.
She said: “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 … But I’ve also lost several people this year, which was tough.
“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.”
Demi also spoke about the ongoing discussions surrounding mental health, and said she feels thankful that the coronavirus pandemic has allowed people to talk about their health more openly.
She added: “Depression and mental illness are part of my history, and because of all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, my anxiety skyrocketed. I was suddenly confronted with all these questions: ‘When are we going to go back to work?’ ‘Are more people going to have to die?’ ‘How bad is this going to get?’ Everything was so suddenly out of my control and not just for me individually, but for us as a global community.
“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. People just didn’t understand what it was, people were scared of words such as anxiety and depression.”
The ‘Sober’ singer, 27, believes the world is now experience a “moment of change”, which also follows the Black Lives Matter protests.
Demi couldn’t be involved in any protests in person because her asthma puts her in the “at risk” category for coronavirus, but has been spreading awareness via social media.
And the singer has said she now wants to take her advocacy work more seriously than ever before.
Writing in an essay for Vogue, she explained: “I’ve always taken my advocacy work seriously, but now I’m looking at it with renewed focus. In this particular instance, what motivated me was knowing how much of myself comes from Black culture. 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. I continue to be constantly inspired by people of colour today.
“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. 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.”
