Selena Gomez opened up about her recent break from Hollywood and staying unplugged from electronics for three months during a Q&A with Thrive Global Wednesday, November 30.
“I recently took 90 days off,” the “Kill Em With Kindness” singer, 24, said. “During that time I did not have my cellphone. It was the most refreshing, calming, rejuvenating feeling. Now I rarely pick up my phone, and only limited people have access to me.”
In response to a question about when she last felt burned out, she said, “Three months ago, before I took a hiatus to take care of myself.”
Back in August, Gomez released a statement to Us Weekly saying that she would be taking time off to cope with “anxiety, panic attacks and depression” due to lupus. “I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off,” the statement read. A source told Us that she was recuperating at a Tennessee treatment facility.
In the Thrive Global interview, the former Disney star said that “staying healthy (mentally, physically, emotionally) and learning new things” gives her energy, and that when she has a few minutes of free time, she fills them with “self-affirmations in cooking or napping!”
Gomez also shared a quote that gives her strength in tough times: “You are not what happened to you; you are what you chose to become after what happened.”
As previously reported, the “Hands to Myself” songstress made her post-rehab comeback at the 2016 American Music Awards in L.A. Sunday, November 20. While accepting her award for Favorite Female Pop/Rock Artist, she gave an emotional speech about her recent struggles. “I think it’s safe to say most of you know a lot of my life whether I liked it or not,” she told the crowd. “I had to stop because I had everything and I was absolutely broken inside, and I kept it all together enough to where I would never let you down, but kept it too much together to where I let myself down.”
