Jessica Simpson Shares What 5 Years of Sobriety Taught Her: 'I Can and Always Will Get Through It'
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Cindy Ord/Getty Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson is getting candid about what living alcohol-free has taught her over the years.
November marks five years of sobriety for the 42-year-old and she celebrated the milestone on Instagram with a video of her singing her song "Party of One" alongside a lengthy message to her critics.
"I needed to be in my studio today because this is where I ground myself and heal," she began. "As much as I have learned to block out destructive noise … peoples' comments and judgments can still hurt deeply with their incessant nagging 'you will never be good enough.' "
"The most important thing I have learned through the last 5yrs without alcohol being a guard for escapism, is that I CAN and ALWAYS WILL get through it," Simpson continued. "I am capable of pretty much anything I care enough about to put my mind to. I am present. I am deeply inspired. I am determined. I am honest. I care about other people."
RELATED: 'I Am Free': Jessica Simpson's Most Powerful Quotes About Sobriety
Simpson added that singing helps her feel grounded and she has compassion for those who "so effortlessly just blurt out with such intensity on social media."
"We all have our days of wanting to be, look, do, and feel better. Nobody is alone with that feelin' that I can promise you," she wrote. "I woke up at the same time anxious and insecure but also angry and defensive — like some of you. I know what works for me and that is to let go and simply sing while lookin directly inside the mirror, straight in my eyes to really see and understand myself. I can connect with my heartbeat. I am stable and strong. I am home."
Simpson ended by sharing advice with her followers.
"Don't give up on yourself because someone else did. Stay true to YOU," she said. "It has worked for me in this chaotic life thus far. Nothin' and nobody will rob me of my joy. Ya might come close but it is mine to own. Yours should be too."
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Earlier this year, Simpson opened up about the day she chose to remove alcohol from her lifestyle in a cover story interview with Entrepreneur.
"When I stopped drinking, it was because I had stopped hearing the voice I really trusted, and I was lost without her," the "With You" singer told the outlet about the moment she decided to make a change.
In her 2020 memoir Open Book, the star recalled this moment, a Halloween party where, after a couple of drinks, she zoned out and was unable to dress her kids. "I was terrified of letting them see me in that shape," Simpson wrote at the time. "I am ashamed to say that I don't know who got them into their costumes that night."
That evening, she took an Ambien to help her sleep. The next morning, she wrote, "I slept in, afraid to see them, afraid I had failed them. I hid until they left, then drank."
Simpson's close circle of friends came over, and she told them: "I need to stop. Something's got to stop. And if it's alcohol that's doing this and making things worse, then I quit."
