Kesha’s note to her 18-year-old self is your one must-read for the week
We’ve all watched her go through a lifetime of hardship over the last couple of years, and in a new note to her 18-year-old self, Kesha reflects on what her experiences have taught her as she offers powerful words of wisdom we can all learn from.
Shared today by CBS as part of the network’s celebrity “Note to Self” series, Kesha’s letter opens with good news for her young self: You made it! That trip to L.A. with nothing but “your grandpa’s Lincoln Town Car and a demo tape” paid off, and you have a career as a musician.
But the bad news? That part is pretty painful.
Kesha writes,
"The bad news is, you nearly killed yourself on the road to success, fueled by fear of failure, crippling anxiety and insecurity. You will become severely bulimic and anorexic and the worse your disease gets, the more praise you will get from some people in your industry. And this will really, really mess with your head. But when you're trying to live up to an unrealistic expectation, it's never going to be good enough. No matter what you do."
While Kesha makes no mention in the note of her legal battle with Dr. Luke, the record producer she says sexually and emotionally abused her for a decade, she does talk about the impact of cyberbullying and trolling on her well-being, how the pressure to be thin haunts her, and she alludes to some regrets about that dollar sign tattoo on her hand.
“That bad girl, I don’t give a s*** attitude, it’ll work for a while, and you will get a dollar sign tattooed on your hand that will last forever probably,” she writes. “But the truth is, you don’t need to put on an act. You can just be Kesha Rose Sebert and guess what? Apparently that’s good enough.”
Kesha’s been through so much over the years, and it brings us real joy to see her living her truth and producing music that’s meaningful to her, as on her new album, Rainbow. She’s still tied professionally to Dr. Luke for now, but we’re rooting for her and hope her legal battle ends swiftly. Click here to read more from Kesha’s powerful note to self.
