While in a shoulder stand in yoga class back in the ’90s, a 20-something Kerry Washington attempted to scan the room looking for proof she was extending as high as others. Noticing her inquisitorial struggle, the instructor said, “If you don’t stay on your mat, you will literally break your neck. Stay on your own mat in class and life.” The sentiment stuck with Washington, now 46, though she admits it’s taken time to sink in.
"There's something about getting into my 40s where I am starting to see you only get this one life," says Washington, after kicking off her lug-sole boots on a rainy Saturday and sinking into a plush couch in a Pasadena hotel suite.
"To spend this one life wanting to be anybody hile in a shoulder stand in yoga class back in the '90s, a 20-something Kerry other than me, and not be where I am, doesn't benefit me," she adds. "To focus on what's over there means I'm ignoring my gifts, and this garden of my life doesn't get to flourish. What's mine is mine, and it's beautiful." Finding enlightenment in her own lane doesn't mean slowing down, though. She is, after all, from the Bronx. "We are sort of the underdog borough," she says, her incredibly fly gold chrome nails impossible to miss as she gestures while talking.
"I don't think you'll ever meet somebody from the Bronx who doesn't have a little bit of a hustle. We are always ready to build, create, figure it out."
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