Harry Styles was 16 when he achieved breakthrough success as a member of One Direction. Now, at 32, the musician says he has taken steps to remove himself from extreme public scrutiny. Logging out of Instagram was one such step.
He shares these reflections about himself in a recent interview with The Sunday times.
The British singer, who has been pursuing his career as a solo artist for years, shares that he took a step away from the spotlight for a while to focus on himself and emerge as a different person.
“I always thought, or hoped, that I was the kind of person who didn’t need the dopamine hits that this job often gives you,” he says, referring to his fame-dominated profession.
The Nice line However, hitmaker admits that he never tried to find out if he would be dependent on such dopamine because he was afraid what if he was wrong.
“But I hadn’t really removed myself from it and it’s hard to dispel the doubt that I might really miss it if it all went away. That’s always been a fear of me.”
To face his fears, Styles says he underwent a psychological reset, focusing on himself while shedding his public image.
It went fine; in the musician’s words, this gave him “pure freedom” that he had never known before.
“So living my life in a way where I could really enjoy who I am, away from this world, has been so powerful for me. That has undoubtedly influenced the work I make now, because it came from a place of pure freedom.”
Moreover, Styles also notes that this was a necessary test to undertake because he had internalized what others saw about him.
“It was important to get away from the image I had of myself. Since I was young, I saw this version of me that other people see and it was constantly mirrored back to me.”
In particular, he points to the role of social media in reinforcing what he describes as “mirrored reality.”
“That’s especially true in the way we use social media now – for everyone – and I’m not immune to that. Having time away from everything has allowed me to have conversations with myself on a deeper level that I didn’t have time for before.”
To detox, Styles says he logged off and quietly deleted Instagram from his phone.
“I’ve made small changes, like not having Instagram on my phone anymore,” he shares before concluding, “I feel so much healthier in my relationship with this world that I’m stepping back into.”
