Hello beautiful souls,
I'm sending Justin Bieber so much love. I first want to say I don't know Justin personally, so these are just my gut feelings and intuitive thoughts as a long-time supporter of Justin and his personal growth and development as a person. This is something I place above success for an artist or entertainer. I call what I do #PopTherapy, where I look deeper into pop culture "headlines" and attempt to look at what's really going on.. because there is something REAL there for the celebrity, and it can also relate to every single one of us.
On to JB's post: When I first saw Justin's vulnerable, honest Instagram caption earlier today, my heart dropped. I FELT it in my heart and in my gut. It was visceral. First, because it was really brave of him to put it out there that he's going through a rough time and openly express that to the world. Secondly, because I've been sensing for some time now that something isn't 100% "all good" with Justin. Even though he seems very happy with his wife Hailey Bieber, and I'm happy for them both, something has still seemed "off". Upon reflection, this make sense. Justin has had SO many years of grinding out albums, hits, tours, performing and bringing joy to millions of his beloved Beliebers worldwide (and has done so since he was a little kid, which is a difficult way to grow up). Over time, I got the feeling that the grind was taking its toll and he was gettting drained and exhausted. We have to fill up our own tank with self care, self love and life experience, or we won't have anything to give to others. I remember when he cancelled a bunch of his tour dates at the end of his tour and some people were upset. While I understand the feeling, I openly defended Justin's decision, believing this was a an important move to protect his mental health and overall well being before he was drained further and things got potentially worse.
Justin Bieber may be a superstar, but hes not super-human.. he's a human being. He needs to take care of his own needs and nurture himself in order to give away his incredible talents. I've done posts before about Justin and other celebrities at his level of unimaginable fame (Britney Spears being one.. it's a very small circle). My most recent post on Justin was when he posted a selfie after shaving his head. Most people thought it was just a "haircut", and it totally may have been, but I felt it was something deeper and more symbolic. It felt like a shedding of the heavy burden of being one of the biggest entertainers in the entire world. A possible symbol of wanting to escape the pressure of being watched like a hawk and a desire to just be HIMSELF, stripped down, who he always was before he became "JUSTIN BIEBER" the icon. (Interestingly, it reminded me of Britney's expressed feelings of being caged-in from normal life). So in the past few years, Justin's semi-departure from the major spotlight by doing features rather than full albums, seeing him hang out in normal settings like parks and playing acoustic guitar, meeting people on the street, even changing his style with his hair and clothes, all made me think he was trying to reconnect to himself: Justin the person, not the image.
I believe that most people don't realize that celebrities are HUMAN BEINGS. No matter how much money, fame, friends, or privilege a person may 'seem' to have.. these are external things. It doesn't show what's going on inside. Being a celebrity does not make a person immune to internal struggle, mental health issues, emotional distress, family conflict, physical illness, addiction, grief, loss, etc., etc. The deep internal life difficulties we experience, they too have to deal with. Added to this is an intense microscope. If they need to heal, recover or work through issues, it becomes much more difficult because the whole world is watching. I could say much more on this topic, but we'll save it for a video or podcast in the future. For now, I'm sending Justin much love and compassion during this time. However long it takes, and sometimes these issues are lifelong struggles. I have faith he will become stronger and grow from it all. I "believe" in him as I "believe" in you and I have to believe in myself. We have to believe in and help eachother!
Below is his Instagram photo as well as my repost where I expressed my thoughts. Sending love to all the Beliebers out there who are deeply concerned. It's beautiful to see his friends, fellow artists and fans show their love and support during his difficult time.
Love Always,
Erica America
#PopTherapy #DeeperWithErica
Photo: Getty Images