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Mac Miller on How He Learned to Be Creative While Sober: ‘You Can Do so Much With a Day’

Mac Miller candidly opened up in 2016 about learning how he could be creative while embracing his journey towards sobriety.

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It was no secret that Mac Miller struggled with substance abuse. It was a significant aspect of his music, contending with the agony of deep depression and an unjust world. A mixtape like Faces or a song like “Perfect Circle/God Speed” depicted these harsher, darker moments all too well.

However, around 2016, Miller had been putting his best foot forward to try to better his life. How he got to that point differed a bit from your typical story of trying to kick drugs and alcohol. In an interview with Nylon to promote The Divine Feminine, Mac Miller had been nearly three months sober. There, he described being fed up with the rotting malaise that comes with using. There’s a haze in the mind that he had gotten accustomed to by that point.

Consequently, the late Pittsburgh rapper suggested trying life out with a clearer disposition. Not long after, he reckoned it felt refreshing to have agency over his mind. Ultimately, his only concern was whether or not he could be truly creative without substances. Once Miller learned that he could, everything else became a whole lot easier.

Mac Miller Opens Up About Learning to Be Creative While Sober

“The idea of being 100 percent clear-headed was something I realized I had never done. As soon as I felt what it felt like to wake up every day and feel good every morning, I realized how important that was for me. You can do so much with a day. I spent so many days just waiting for the next one to come. Now, I’m excited for every day, which is really great,” Mac Miller told the publication. “As soon as I learned that I could do things creatively sober, then it was good. As long as I can still be creative, I’m geeked. It’s even better because before, my every other aspect was destruction. Now I can do both, which is important because they feed off each other.”

A big part of changing his habits was learning to be a lot more candid and honest about what he was going through. Moreover, it was the mere act of being more present in the world that allowed Mac Miller to see the finer things in life a bit more clearly, despite all the bad that can come with it.

“I mean, the switch is ridiculous. The fact of how the things that I dreaded the most are now my favorite things. Like, just being 100 percent honest all the time is great and going out into the world is great,” Mac Miller said. “I think you build this narrative in your head about the world being this f***ing terrifying, horrible place, and living in fear and misery is comfortable. It’s easy because it’s just like, ‘Everything sucks, and I can’t do anything about it.’ There’s a lot of beauty in the world, so go hang out and go be a part of the solution rather than the problem.

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