Sophia Bush learned a lot of lessons in 2023 that she will be taking with her into the new year.
“What a year. My whole life I’ve heard the saying ‘put your own oxygen mask on first’ and this year I learned what it meant. This past year humbled me, broke me, built me, betrayed me, freed me, and showed me what it means to really be alive,” Bush, 41, captioned an Instagram post on Monday, January 1. “No more playing small. No more turning my back on myself.”
Bush discussed the ups and downs she recently faced in her life, adding, “No more settling for what falls short because ‘who am I to ask for more?’ This year put me back in my body. I left it a long time ago, in such a way that I forgot what it felt like to inhabit my own skin. I feel my whole self from the tops of my ears to the tips of my toes now. It’s breathtaking. Life giving. Affirming.”
In the lengthy social media essay, the actress reflected on how she plans to listen to herself and “no one” else.
“To let go of expectation that wounds and grasp possibility that frees. To not care about optics and instead invest in honesty. The truest and deepest and purest kind. This year sent me inward. More than I’ve ever been,” Bush wrote. “It took me out of relationship with many of you but put me back into relationship with myself. I hope you are all doing well, but for this quiet and deeply personal experience I am supremely grateful. This year reminded me that we work like waves. Sometimes we explode in symphonic beauty up front, sometimes we line up at the back of the rolling set, cheering and drumming and watching others make magic as they spray and exclaim ahead of us.”
Bush’s personal life made headlines in August when news broke about her filing for divorce from Grant Hughes. In court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Bush listed their date of separation as June 27 — shortly after they celebrated their first wedding anniversary.
A source exclusively told Us at the time that the pair’s split was amicable and they were “better off as friends.”
“It wasn’t ugly and they are still supporting each other,” the insider shared with Us. “They want each other to be happy and for their nonprofit to continue to thrive.”
In Monday’s post, Bush noted that she was grateful for the experiences she went through in 2023. “Watching from the rear these past months has been a gift. It has been rest and reclamation. I hope you get to experience both, too. I hope you get a year that jolts you. That brings you back from the edge. That gives you medicine,” she shared. “This year I started writing again. Almost every day. I found my inner voice, and got quiet enough to listen to it.”
Four months after parting ways with Hughes, 42, multiple outlets reported that Bush was seeing soccer star Ashlyn Harris, who was also going through her own split from Ali Krieger.
Hughes’ rep addressed the romance in October through a statement, which read, “Grant will always want the best for Sophia, and is supportive of all that makes her happy and fulfilled.”
Bush hinted at some of the obstacles she faced in her social media post, writing, “This year I slowed down; first because illness forced me to. Second because recovery required more stillness. In that way both sickness and healing are a gift. For those gifts I am so grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you to this life for teaching me. Thank you, thank you, thank you to this year that changed everything.”
She concluded: “That allowed me to burn what never served me, and find what does in the ashes. Charcoal is a purifier. Clarity comes like lightning in the dark. This is my deepest learning season yet. Thank you, a thousand times.”
