Kerry Washington feels her "life is getting better" the older she gets.
Kerry Washington on the cover of Glamour magazine
The 'Scandal' star - who has Isabelle, two, and Caleb, five months, with her husband Nnamdi Asomugha - turned 40 earlier this year and feels it has signalled the "beginning" of a new lease of life.
She said: "Life is just getting better. For me, 40 feels like a beginning. I'm in the middle of so much new - with this career, the kids, and I'm still sort of a newlywed. I'm excited to be at this stage in life."
And the 40-year-old actress feels it is important to prioritise her own wellbeing and self-love.
Asked what she does to promote her own self-care, she added: "Sometimes, when we're feeling challenged in life, we feel a pull to isolate, and for me part of the joy of being a wife, a mother, and in a cast of friends is allowing myself to be in spaces of love. So being open to that love.
"Then, for me, self-love is like, Am I sleeping enough? Eating well? Not: Am I eating well to be able to fit into my skinny jeans? But: Am I eating well to be healthy and strong? And to acknowledge the good, because there is always a lot of good."
Meanwhile, Kerry hopes she can pass on some of her positivity to all those she encounters.
She told the May issue of Glamour magazine: "My deepest desire is to create a world where there's room for all of us, where no matter who you are, you get to wake up in the morning and know that you are worthwhile and deserving. If that's the world I want to live in, I have to do the work to make that true for me.
"I have to do the work of self-love and affirmation, and say, 'I am a woman, I am a person of color, I am the granddaughter of immigrants, I am also the descendant of slaves, I am a mother, I am an entrepreneur, I am an artist, and I'm joyful.' And maybe in seeing my joy, you can finish your sentence with, 'And I am joyful too.'"
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