The 25-year-old singer has been public about his mental health journey.
Shawn Mendes took to social media on Tuesday to share reflections on his personal growth over the past year.
The 25-year-old "Wonder" singer posted a video of himself singing along to a harmonium and expressed how this practice helped him cope with anxiety and fear. Mendes revealed that allowing himself to sing without the need for perfection became a source of comfort, emphasizing the beauty in the interplay between "right" and "wrong" notes.
"I realized there were only moments of bliss and euphoria from the 'right' notes BECAUSE of the 'wrong' notes," he wrote on Instagram. "The only reason I can sing in key is because I've learned to listen."
Mendes also shared that his most significant lesson in 2023 was "to accept and welcome the lows of life" and not constantly seek change to regain a sense of high.
Mendes has been candid about his mental health journey, notably canceling tour dates in July 2022 to prioritize his well-being.
Reflecting on the past year, Mendes acknowledged the difficulty of untangling his emotions and expressed gratitude for the transformative and healing process. He emphasized the positive cultural shift towards prioritizing mental health and thanked those who have been accepting and supportive.
Last June, in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the performer opened up about new music and his life ahead of turning 25. "I think I am approaching 25 still feeling quite confused about a lot of things in my life. And I think that was expressing that feeling of frustration about what is happening, this feeling of swinging the pendulum back and forth…," he said.
"I think I still am in a very confused place, but I know that there are some people in my life who I deeply love, and I know that music is something I deeply love, and I know that this planet is something I deeply love. And all of those three things are something worth fighting for and worth dying for. And I think that was where that energy was coming from."
Mendes also shed light on how his uncertainty has extended to the recording studio. "I feel like over the last year and a bit, I've just been really struggling in the studio to find my voice and to find myself musically and to even have the courage just to be in the room with writers or step into the booth and sing," he explained.
"And I was upstate New York and just on the back end of feeling a lot of things about relationships, about my career, about environment. And I was in the studio and this moment of just deep frustration came over me and I finally started to feel this inspiration come. And honestly, in that moment, it felt like it was the first time I felt that in a year and a half in the studio."
Despite the challenges, Mendes has been seen engaging in self-care, including workouts in Los Angeles canyons and showcasing his physique during a vacation in Ibiza, Spain. The singer has also been spotted spending time with TV personality Charlie Travers.
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