Warwick Saint for EssenceThese days, Janet Jackson is happy, but in a letter written for Essence magazine, the 52-year-old icon writes that it’s taken decades for her to find a sense of inner peace, and acknowledges there’ve been many struggles along the way.
In the revealing note, Jackson admits that her 30s were especially challenging as she battled depression. The struggle, she writes, “was intense.”
“I could analyze the source of my depression forever. Low self-esteem might be rooted in childhood feelings of inferiority,” she explaina. “It could relate to failing to meet impossibly high standards. And, of course, there are always the societal issues of racism and sexism. Put it all together and depression is a tenacious and scary condition. Thankfully, I found my way through it.”
Now mother to one-year-old son Eissa, Janet writes that her greatest happiness comes from being a parent.
“Now the height of happiness is holding my baby son in my arms and hearing him coo, or when I look into his smiling eyes and watch him respond to my tenderness. When I kiss him. When I sing him softly to sleep,” she writes. “During those sacred times, happiness is everywhere. Happiness is in gratitude to God.”
The singer, who will headline the 2018 Essence Festival in New Orleans next month, writes that “hard work — focused work, positive work — makes me happy,” and adds that she’s also inspired by “the commitment of young people on justice causes,” as well as the #MeToo movement.
“We are living at a time in history when women all over the world are refusing to be controlled, manipulated, exploited or abused. Heart and soul, I stand with these women,” Janet writes. “We have found our strength, and we will not relent.”
Copyright © 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.