Celebrity News
Stars of the iconic film Black Panther Lupita Nyong'o and Michael B. Jordan have had a busy year! From red carpets, and award shows, and diving head first into their new films Creed II which is still playing in theaters, and Us which will be debuting in March, the two actors have proven not to skip a beat. Thankfully for us, alongside the two sharing their accomplishments, they have also shared their methods of recovery from their fruitful yet hectic lifestyle.
While many of us would celebrate our success in a "7 Rings" style shopping spree, Lupita decided to buy herself something quite priceless: peace of mind. Lupita explained to Marie Claire:
"I went on a 10-day silent retreat...It was a gift. I did it for my birthday. And it was the best gift because, the thing is, my job has two main parts. There's the acting, and there's the celebrity. And the celebrity involves a lot of giving. After talking so much, and just expending, expending, expending, to sit with myself and just listen. Our lives are so full of distractions; you go from one distraction to another."
The day after the Oscars, Lupita flew to Texas to a retreat that involved her forfeiting her phone, signing an agreement, and having no access to her car. If this sounds like torture to you, don't worry because Lupita completely freaked out too:
"I was constantly wanting to leave and then daring myself to take one more hour and another hour. And oh my God, it was crazy and beautiful, because after the 10 days, it wasn't talking that I missed… The heart of the program is about un-clutching from attachments to pleasure and aversion, the idea that we attach to things that we love and to things we dislike. And our identities are built on assembling these things to basically write the stories of our lives, but learning to un-clutch from that control makes it easier to live, to exist."
One of the benefits that she noticed immediately after spending time at the silent retreat was mental clarity, much like her co-star Michael B. Jordan who sought therapy after playing the intense role of Erik Killmonger. Micheal sat down with Oprah during an episode of her Super Soul Sunday to explain how his dedication to the role of such a misunderstood character led him to isolate himself and relate to the mind state of a villain:
"I spent a lot of time alone. I figured Erik, his childhood growing up was lonely. He didn't have a lot of people he could talk to about this place called Wakanda that didn't exist…I wanted to be in this lonely place as long as I could. Your mind is so powerful. Your mind will get your body past a threshold that it would have given up on way before. Honestly, therapy, just talking to somebody just helped me out a lot. As a man, you get a lot of slack for it, I don't really subscribe to that. Everyone needs to unpack and talk."
With the emotional baggage that comes with depicting such pain and rage that Killmonger represented in the film, surely enlisting the help of a mental health professional to get out of that mind state was the best move to make for this young adorned actor.
Well, there you have it! Even these two young stars use their wealth to invest in their mental health because peace of mind is priceless! Make sure to find ways to invest in yours too!
Featured image by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
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