Ariana Grande Felt 'So Deeply Misunderstood' in 2023

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Ariana Grande is saying Thank U, Next to 2023, but not before sharing a few thoughts about her year.

The Wicked star, who has been keeping a (semi) low profile as of late, shared a slew of photos and videos from various 2023 moments in her Instagram stories, including matching tattoos with her co-star Cynthia Erivo, plenty of dog photos, surprising fans and more.

Toward the end of the montage, Grande shared a few words of gratitude and reflection, calling 2023 "one of the most transformative, most challenging and yet happiest and most special years" of her life.

After touching on her work and the projects she's been part of, she shared some thoughts on the way some have perceived her and her life this year.

"I have never felt more pride or joy or love while simultaneously feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don't know me, who piece whispers together and make what they want out of me and their assumptions of my life," she wrote. "I have learned how much more important one of those things is than the other."

That section may be referring to the intense speculation that surrounded her and boyfriend Ethan Slater, who she met on the set of Wicked, earlier this year.

Though they were both separated from their then-spouses at the time (Grande separated from her husband Dalton Gomez around January/February, while Slater and his wife Lily Jay filed for divorce in July), when their relationship went public, its timeline caused a pretty big stir among fans and the internet in general.

Grande and Slater have been a bit more open about their relationship as of late. She attended the premiere of his broadway show Spamalot, and the two were recently seen out for dinner in New York together. According to her post, Grande is no longer entertaining things and opinions that don't serve her.

"I am reacting to things that deserve my energy only and removing and protecting myself from things that do not," she wrote.

Personally, I think we could all take a page out of Grande's outlook for 2024.

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Jamie Feldman is a journalist, essayist and content creator known for her self-deprecating humor and quick wit. After building a byline as a lifestyle editor for HuffPost, her articles and editorials have since appeared in Cosmopolitan, Betches, Nylon, Bustle, Parade, and Well+Good. Her journey out of credit card debt, which she chronicles on TikTok, has amassed a loyal social media following. Her story has been featured in Fortune, Business Insider and on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CBS News, and NPR. She is currently producing a podcast on the same topic and living in Brooklyn, New York.