I Am Okay, Now
Lovato’s Newest Ignites Hope, Healing, & Personal Reflection in the Age of Self-Awareness
“You’ll be OK, Kid”
In her signature soft-yet-piercing tone, Lovato delivers an intimate ballad capable of reassuring the masses.
If someone had offered this tiny, almost imperceptible nugget of wisdom when I was younger, I’d like to think I would’ve believed them. Honestly, though? I probably would’ve stared hollowly in disbelief, knowing all too well the misfortune both my stuttering and strict, safety-seeking avoidance behaviors caused. Having likened introducing myself or making a phone call to that of acute physical danger — “OK” was a foreign entity, all on its own.
“The sharks in the water will teach you to swim”
I wasn’t ready, but was left in the deep end, anyway. Choiceless and alone, it never felt safe. On alert, I stood permanent watch. Any sign of danger, any microscopic chance of humiliation, and I (whenever possible) vanished. Flooding my every turn, the sharks remained — an invariable fixture in a formative time. With calm, futile, and triumph, nonexistent? Hope never made it to the shore. Hope was reserved for normal people. Normal people and their normal people problems.
“The thorns on the roses will thicken your skin”
My skin? What skin? I’m…alive? Time existed only for those who enjoyed living. Me? I mastered going-through-the-motions earlier than I could confidently state the slope of a line (y=mx+b, thank you very much!)
Years spent indifferent and seemingly replaceable, I long believed my existence to be a waste. Every time I opened my mouth, I subjected myself to a million moments of possible rejection. Consciously, there was no skin to thicken, no hope or happy ending to cling onto. Both near and far, thorns surrounded me, prickling my every move. Drawing blood against my wishes.
For a long, excruciating while, it was just…dark.
“People might hurt you and break promises”
They did. But after a while, I found comfort in the predictability of disappointment. I found my voice another way.
In the meantime? That eerie time between night and dawn? Before the sun came up, and with it — the rest of the world? Those moments of haunting stillness, marked by morning fog and tranquil song? The time where nothing existed except a gradual twilight nothingness?
That was my favorite time of day. That's when, if denial reared strongly enough…I could pretend I really would, “be OK, kid.”
“It’s all gonna happen, but not how you think”
You got that right.
“You’ll make it like I did”
How very little, did I actually know.
Here I am, having made it to twenty-six years, when once I could never fathom making it to ten.
I am, in fact, okay.
Demi Lovato’s promotional single for the new Hulu documentary, Child Star, speaks to the very endearing, yet once-unimaginable feat of personal triumph. Interviewing stars across a variety of entertainment backgrounds, Lovato highlights shared, yet individual experience as a vehicle for reflection and purpose. Featuring contributions from Drew Barrymore, Christina Ricci, Kenan Thompson, and more, viewers get a glimpse of struggle in the hopes of effecting meaningful, lasting change.
Whether you’re a young child actor grandfathered into the high-stakes entertainment industry, an aspiring pop star turned filmmaker, or a little girl named Amanda convinced of her worthlessness because she couldn’t pronounce her name — we all can take a little something from Lovato’s continued commitment to vulnerability through her craft.
Maybe you don’t see it now, or the shoreline is just out-of-reach, but one way, someday, we’ll all just, “be OK, kid”
…like I am, now.
