Janet Jackson says motherhood is 'the height of happiness'

Janet Jackson has opened up about her struggle to find happiness, saying she "fell easily into despair" but found contentment after becoming a mother.

In a candid letter for Essence magazine, the pop star said she had suffered low self-esteem and "intense" depression throughout her life.

"Depression is a tenacious and scary condition," she wrote. "Thankfully, I found my way way through it."

The 52-year-old thanked God and her infant son for helping her find peace.

"The height of happiness is holding my baby son in my arms and hearing him coo, or when I look into his smiling eyes and watch him respond to my tenderness," she wrote of one-year-old Eissa Al Mana.

"When I kiss him. When I sing him softly to sleep. During those sacred times, happiness is everywhere."

"Happiness is in gratitude to God. Happiness is saying, 'Thank you, God, for my life, my energy and my capacity to grow in love.' "

SOURCE: BBC NEWS
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