Ariana Grande Reflects on Educational Healing Year After Pete Davidson Breakup, Mac Miller Death

Ariana Grande has been through a lot, but she has learned from her experiences — good and bad. It has been one year since she released her hit song “Thank U, Next,” giving her some distance from the work and the tragedies that inspired it. Over the weekend, she reflected on these hard lessons on Twitter.

Grande posted about the anniversary of “Thank U, Next” on Sunday. The song is the nexus for much of Grande’s experience over the last few years. It touches on all of her relationships, as well as her own feelings of self-worth, and her experience of grief. Now that she has some distance, Grande sees this song as essential to her “healing” process.

“happy birthday ‘thank u, next,’” she wrote. “i can’t believe i’ve spent more time alone this year than i have in my life, i can’t believe how many sessions w my therapist i’ve had, how many times i’ve sung this song, how much i’ve learned and healed, how much i still have to learn and heal !”

Grande carried on in subsequent tweets, admitting that in spite of how “emotional” and “wild” it has been, 2019 has also been “productive” and even “happy.” For that, she thanked her friends, her fans and her pets.

“Thank U, Next” compiles the lessons Grande has learned through relationships, but it also confronts the mysteries that are still there as well. She does not feel she has come far in unraveling those.

“update: i still don’t know s— [about] love or have a clue what a personal life looks like other than hanging with pups and piggy which i’ve learned is… actually… more than enough !” she tweeted.

In conclusion, Grande wrote: “my heart feels good. even though everything is up in the air / i still have a million questions… i’ve accepted it and feel somewhat whole and that feels like something worth sharing. i guess. love u.”

“Thank U, Next” also represents a raw creative achievement, as the song and the album it preceded were all written and released within a few months after Grande’s previous record, Sweetener. The music video became a viral sensation, and Grande has since taken the show on tour.

The album followed a tumultuous time in the 26-year-old’s life. After several years of dating, Grande and Mac Miller broke up. She then entered into a whirlwind romance with SNL‘s Pete Davidson, and they got engaged within just a couple of months. However, after Miller died of a drug overdose, Grande broke off the engagement to take some time alone.