Sophia Michaels
Shawn Mendes has been embracing the process of letting go of what doesn’t serve him. Most recently, that practice meant shaving off his heartthrob hair. Last year, it meant announcing that he was canceling the remainder of his Wonder tour to take a break and focus on his mental health. Now, the prospect of new music – and potentially live shows – has returned to his radar.
“I’m at the point where I’m like, ‘OK, I’m ready to start making some songs,’ which is exciting,” he told Wall Street Journal in a recent interview. Reflecting on his journey through prioritizing his health, he added: “The process was very difficult. A lot of doing therapy, a lot of trying to understand how I was feeling and what was making me feel that way. And then doing the work to help myself and heal. And also leaning on people in my life to help a little bit.”
Part of the process also included learning where to draw the line between serving himself and serving others. “Understanding how setting boundaries does not make you an unkind person has really changed my life,” Mendes explained. “And also understanding that it’s not easy to do. It’s a difficult thing to do. It feels uncomfortable. It makes other people feel a little uncomfortable for a moment, but ultimately it’s a very powerful and helpful thing to do for every relationship.”
The singer described the past year and a half as “the most eye-opening and growing and beautiful and just healing process of my life.” He added: “I’m also really grateful for all the people that were so accepting and loving and kind and understanding. And it just really made me see how culture is really starting to get to a place where mental health is really becoming a priority.”
Mendes had only made it a little over a week into the Wonder world tour when he pulled the plug on the whole production. “I started this tour excited to finally get back to playing live after a long break due to the pandemic, but the reality is I was not at all ready for how difficult touring would be after this time away,” he said at the time. “After speaking more with my team and working with an incredible group of health professionals, it has become more clear that I need to take the time I’ve never taken personally, to ground myself and come back stronger.”
