Miley Cyrus is has been busy in quarantine. Early in the lockdown, Cyrus launched her Instagram Live talk show, Bright Minded, which has featured the (slightly pixelated) faces of Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Dua Lipa, chatting about everything from LGBTQ+ history, mental wellbeing and self-care during isolation, womanhood, family, poverty and homelessness. She gave her new beau Cody Simpson an adorable makeover for a music video. And she’s also been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, championing it on her social media platforms.
Now, the singer and actress has opened up about something she hasn’t been doing in quarantine. According to a new interview with Variety, Cyrus has been completely sober for the past six months.
It’s a pretty big 180 from the Miley we used to know. Back in 2013, it seemed like Cyrus’ main goal was getting as far away from her squeaky clean Disney image as possible. Fans who grew up with country lass Hannah Montana were now watching Miley grow up, which at the time involved a lot of partying, drugs and drinking. Cyrus also copped criticism for her appropriation of Black culture and hip hop in her album of that era, Bangerz, which she has since apologised for.
It seems like the actress really is on a genuine path of change, and the latest step: her new sober status. She explains that it initially began because of a “really big vocal surgery in November,” where she was forbidden to speak for four weeks during her recovery. The forced silent treatment “prepared me for the stillness and the quietness,” she explains. “I’ve been sober sober for the past six months,”
During her recovery, she says she began to reflect on the things in her past that have influenced her, including inherited family baggage. “At the beginning, it was just about this vocal surgery. But I had been thinking a lot about my mother. My mom was adopted, and I inherited some of the feelings she had, the abandonment feelings and wanting to prove that you’re wanted and valuable. My dad’s parents divorced when he was 3, so my dad raised himself.”
A lot of people never start to unpack the way our families have shaped our identities, so it’s pretty heartening to see Cyrus discuss this stuff so openly.
“I did a lot of family history, which has a lot of addiction and mental health challenges,” she says. “So just going through that and asking, “Why am I the way that I am?” By understanding the past, we understand the present and the future much more clearly. I think therapy is great.” We’re big advocates for actively working on your mental health and completely agree therapy is an amazing tool for that. (If you’re heading into any online or video therapy appointments, Syrup has a helpful guide on how to prepare for them.)
Cyrus also knocks back the common assumption that if you’re not drinking, you’re not having fun. “It’s really hard because especially being young, there’s that stigma of “you’re no fun.” It’s like, “honey, you can call me a lot of things, but I know that I’m fun.” Truly.
She adds that another mental benefit of being sober is that she’s always ready to go. “The thing that I love about it is waking up 100%, 100% of the time. I don’t want to wake up feeling groggy. I want to wake up feeling ready.”
Huge congrats to the inspiring gal, we’re suddenly feeling very pumped for Dry July.
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