Cindy Ord/Getty Images: Rare Beauty
today’s show Co-host Hoda Kotb sits down with Selena Gomez and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to discuss their mission to change the way we talk about mental health on this week’s episode of the Making Space podcast. .
Gomez, 31, who has spoken in the past about her struggle with bipolar disorder, told Kotb that she is a “loving, caring person who is genuinely willing to do anything to help someone.” . “Life can be distracting, there’s a lot of noise, and titles don’t scare me anymore because I claimed my story. I told my story and I felt liberated from it.”
The singer said mental health advocacy is something she has always been passionate about. But before launching her Rare Beauty makeup line, she wanted it to be “more than just a brand,” and before selling any products, she pledged 1% of sales to children and teens to promote health. I claimed I wanted to donate to the Rare Impact Fund, which focuses on providing. Resources containing information about suicide prevention efforts.
“In the end, we were able to support over 700,000 schools and raised $13 million…My goal has always been, ‘How can I make a positive difference in this world?’ “I did,” she told Kotb. “It seems a little interesting to do it through makeup, but it’s part of mental health. It’s mind, body, and soul, and people think they should feel a certain way. , I wanted Rare to be a place where everyone felt like they belonged.”
Gomez also recalled a conversation she had with an older woman going through a divorce, around the time Gomez released her empowering 2019 single “Lose You to Love Me,” and shared their five-minute interview. He said the conversation was much more satisfying than taking a selfie with a friend. fan. “I realize now that that’s what keeps me going,” Gomez said of the importance of making meaningful interactions and connections. “She made my day and I hope I can make hers too.”
Kotub said she was concerned that Gomez was giving so much of herself to her work and others, and wondered why the singer had enough energy for herself. “It starts with the fact that she actually took the step to ask for her help,” Gomez said. “A lot of things were happening and I didn’t understand my own mind, I didn’t understand my reactions, I didn’t understand my emotions. And that was probably the most painful period of my life.”
But once Gomez was able to talk to people and solve some of those problems, “it became very clear to me and very important, so now I’ve made it a part of my life.” I have boundaries. I’ve learned to say no when I need to. I have great relationships and friends and people I learn from.” , she said, is about owning your power and knowing that “it’s me that surrounds you.”
In March, Gomez spoke on a panel at SXSW about the vulnerable 2022 document. my mind and meHe confessed that he was unsure whether to make this move public. “The moment I did that, I felt incredibly liberated,” she explained at the time of her feeling of having to hit “rock bottom” before overcoming some challenges. . “There was no room to hide anymore. It was probably one of the most difficult moments of my life.”
The doc was shot over six years and delves into the singer’s depressive episodes and struggles with anxiety. Gomez revealed in 2020 that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. At the 3rd Annual Rare Beauty Mental Health Summit in New York in May, Gomez, who is the most followed woman on Instagram with 428 million followers, revealed that her He told Kotb that he has disabled comments on the gram. “So I think I created boundaries to help myself,” she says. “It made me feel empowered to say, ‘This is just for me,'” she added.
“I’m always working on mental health and it’s always evolving,” Gomez said at the event, which was also attended by Surgeon General Marcy, who has worked with Gomez for years on mental health-related challenges facing America’s youth. . “I’m not better or worse than anyone. I’m just a person living and surviving each day.”
And she still is. On Kotb’s podcast, Gomez said that now when she looks in the mirror in the morning, she sees “someone who wakes up every day and gives it their all.” And at the end of the day that’s all I can ask for. ”
Listen to the full episode of “Making Space” with Gomez here.
