"When we first met, he said we would pull the poison out of each other, and we really do."
Katy Perry's time in the spotlight hasn't always been easy.
The 35-year-old singer covers the latest issue of Vogue India and opens up about why 2017 to 2018 was a tough period in her life. That year-long span followed her 2012 divorce from Russell Brand and was during an off-period of her relationship to her now-fiance, Orlando Bloom.
"I became depressed and I did not want to get out of bed," she says. "In the past, I had been able to overcome it, but this time something happened that made me fall down too many flights of stairs. I had to really go on a mental health journey."
Part of that wellness journey included working on herself, while another aspect of healing was found through her relationship with Bloom, to whom she got engaged to last Valentine's Day.
"I’ve done a lot of mental, spiritual and emotional work in the past few years. The biggest lie we’ve ever been told as artists is that we have to stay in pain to create," she says. "I don’t want to be in emotional pain my whole life in order to write songs."
"... I’ve gone to therapy, been through the Hoffman Process, done plant medicine... And I have a partner who is also all about finding a balance," Perry adds. "Orlando, who is on a spiritual journey of his own. He’s an anchor who holds me down, and he’s very real. He’s not the number one fan of Katy Perry, but he’s the number one fan of Katheryn Hudson."
As for why Perry and Bloom's relationship is different from her previous one to Brand, Perry explains that she's learned much about love since her divorce.
"Love is different from dating. You date in your 20s. Love is partnership, friendship, truth and being an absolute mirror to someone," she says. "Orlando is like a sage. When we first met, he said we would pull the poison out of each other, and we really do."
"It’s exhausting, but we really hold each other accountable. I’ve never had a partner who was willing to go on an emotional and spiritual journey like Orlando," Perry continues. "It’s challenging, because you’re facing all the things you don’t like about yourself. It’s like a never-ending cleanse."
That cleanse also includes time of levity, many of which are spent with Flynn, the 8-year-old son Bloom shares with his ex-wife, Miranda Kerr.
"We do a lot with Flynn," Perry shares. "We go to the movies or to amusement parks… We’re constantly doing things that are fun."
With wedding planning underway and thoughts of having a big family in the not-so-distant future, Perry is fully focused on the next phase of both her personal and professional lives.
"At 35, I’ve checked many boxes off my list and I’m now being challenged to dream new dreams," she says. "I want to be involved in environmental companies, I want to go back to school and I want to influence good people to run for office."
"... I’ve been in the public eye for 12 years and I’ve made many mistakes. I’m human, and I still want to try," she adds. "I don’t want to be defeated or become a recluse. I want to live life. And doing that means you might occasionally trip, but it’s not about how you fall -- it’s about how you get up."
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