Letting it Out
- Superstar Megan Thee Stallion, 27, showed a much more vulnerable side to the masses during her performance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.
- The Houston native lost her mom, Holly Thomas, to brain cancer in 2019, and got choked up during her performance of “Anxiety,” which she wrote after her mother’s death.
- Grief is a day-by-day process, and you never know when you may be caught up in your feelings. Just know that it’s okay to share what you’re thinking and feeling. Discussing your thoughts with a family member, friend, or mental health professional if needed is perfectly healthy and can help you in your process.
- SNTV’s mental health resources and inspirational films, such as Maintaining a Positive Headspace, can help motivate you and cheer your spirit.
The Houston native lost her mom, Holly Thomas, to brain cancer in 2019, and got choked up during her performance of “Anxiety,” which she wrote after her mother’s death.
Read MoreNormalizing feelings of anxiety and depression, in this case related to grief and loss, is beyond helpful for millions of others suffering out there. To help ease your burden, SurvivorNet has compiled some mental health resources and inspirational videos to watch from the comfort of your home as you navigate your own health journey.
SurvivorNetTV Presents Maintaining a Positive Headspace
When people like Megan use their platform and artistry to express themselves in such a raw, honest way, it takes the power of their music to the next level for people. Going a massive step further, the Grammy winner also recently launched a website with mental health resources called “Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too.”
Sirius XM political analyst Ameshia Cross took to Twitter to give Megan some love for her SNL performance, and also acknowledged the pain she felt when she got emotional over her mother.
“I love the song ‘Anxiety’ and what it represents. I loved this performance even more…when @theestallion got chocked up over her mom’s cancer death, I felt that,” she shared to her followers. “It’s a club none of us want to be a part of but the emotion expressed here I share.”
The song, in its second verse, goes into a letter to Megan’s late mother:
“If I could write a letter to Heaven/ I would tell my mama that I shoulda been listenin’/ And I would tell her sorry that I really been wildin’/ And ask her to forgive me, ’cause I really been tryin’.”
On double duty for her big night, the rapper also served as host for the legendary variety show, which has only been done once by another black woman—Queen Latifah.
Megan expressed many thanks to her team for all their hard work getting up at 6am every day to rehearse and also thanked everyone at SNL.
Fame, fortune, and opportunities like this can come and go, but it’s always the gratitude that people remember the most! The artist even thanked “everyone in the crowd tonight” … and her dog.
Thank you, @theestallion! Goodnight!!! pic.twitter.com/taB4cBFTgz
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) October 16, 2022
Losing a Parent to Cancer
Everyone goes through the stages of grief at their own pace. When you lose a parent to cancer, especially if it happens at a young age, that feeling of loss and sadness can really linger. But that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.
Camila Legaspi lost her mom to breast cancer when she was in high school, and told SurvivorNet that the tragedy of losing a parent as a teenager kind of defined her high school experience.
‘Therapy Saved My Life,’ After Losing A Loved One, Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For Help
However, after she went off to college, she was able to turn that immense sense of loss that she felt into inspiration for creating.
“I actually took this sadness and let it motivate me,” Camila, who is now 23, told SurvivorNet. “I learned that it’s OK to be sad sometimes. It’s OK to carry sadness with you … it’s not always a bad thing. It makes you who you are and it gives you a story to tell and it helps you teach other people to cope with their sadness.”
Camila, who is one of four siblings, said that her mother was a very creative person. She said she turned to writing as an outlet, and used her mother’s creativity as a motivator. Camila went to Princeton University, and got involved with the school’s magazine. She explained that instead of thinking of the loss of her mother as something terrible that happened to her family, she has let it serve as inspiration for poetry, fiction, or whatever else she may be inspired to write.
“I’ve learned to have it impact me in a positive way, and have it not just be a sad story … instead, I’m using it for a better purpose,” Camila said.
The Stages of Grief
The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
“These labels are tools to help us frame and identify what you may be feeling,” says clinical psychologist Dr. Marianna Strongin to SurvivorNet. “They are not linear and can occur in a variety of ways.”
As you find yourself experiencing some of these stages, Dr. Strongin says it is important to remember that the emotions you are feeling are meaningful yet temporary. “If you approach them with compassion, kindness and eventually acceptance, you will come away from this period in your life more connected to your resilience and strength,” she advises.
One trick to learning to accept less than optimal news is to keep Dr. Tara Brach’s acronym RAIN in mind. RAIN stands for:
- RECOGNIZE and pause to notice
- ALLOW, or accept your current experience
- INVESTIGATE, by pinpointing what is happening in your mind and body
- NURTURE, by bringing compassion to yourself.
Grief is a day-by-day process, and you never know when you may be caught up in your feelings. Just know that it’s okay to share what you’re thinking and feeling. Discussing your thoughts with a family member, friend, or mental health professional if needed is perfectly healthy and can help you in your process.
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