Jessica Simpson Marked 4 Years Of Sobriety With A Beautiful & Moving Instagram Post

November 2017 was an important moment in time for Jessica Simpson. It was the moment when she knew she would, as she shared in a powerful Instagram post, “allow myself to take back my light” by getting sober. In a raw and moving post commemorating four years of sobriety, Simpson reflected on that memory, that moment in time, and how her life has changed since then.

Back in 2017, life looked pretty good for Simpson and her adorable family with her husband, retired NFL star Eric Johnson. From a social media lens, that is. But privately, the mother of three was going through a life altering struggle. One she generously shared with a photo on Instagram on Monday, the anniversary of her decision to get sober.

“This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017 is an unrecognizable version of myself,” Simpson captioned a photo of herself from that day. “I had so much self discovery to unlock and explore. I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity.”

“I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted,” she continued. “I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor. I wanted to live as a leader does and break cycles to advance forward- never looking back with regret and remorse over any choice I have made and would make for the rest of my time here within this beautiful world.”

Simpson opened up about her struggle with alcohol and pills in her 2020 memoir Open Book, explaining that childhood trauma caused by an abuser and career stress led her to start becoming increasingly dependent on drinking. “I was killing myself with all the drinking and pills," she wrote at the time, admitting that she got sober in November 2017. “Giving up the alcohol was easy. I was mad at that bottle. At how it allowed me to stay complacent and numb.”

How different November 2021 looks for the busy mom of three after getting sober. “The drinking wasn’t the issue. I was,” she wrote on Monday. “I didn’t love myself. I didn’t respect my own power. Today I do. I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad. I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free.”