Viola Davis Shares These Empowering Affirmations With Her Daughter Every Day
Davis shared that when she’s speaking these affirmations to her daughter, she’s also speaking to herself.
Viola Davis not only slays it in her acting career, she’s also showing us how it’s done in parenthood as well. In an appearance on the Today Show yesterday, Viola shared how her upbringing has shaped the way she parents her daughter Genesis, 11, and how it’s allowed them both to grow as people.
In her new memoir, Finding Me, Viola describes her difficult childhood where she suffered abuse, dealt with food insecurity, and was a victim of bullying. She explains that she felt like she ran from her childhood self most of her life, only to experience full circle moments once becoming a mom.
She mentions that at twenty-eight, she felt it was time to go to therapy and learn about herself, and at age 34, she married the love of her life. Now at 54, she’s ready to rid herself of “all labels” and to bravely tell her story.
When hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager asked Davis what Genesis represents to her, the EGOT award winner says, “I feel about Genesis the same way I feel about myself when I look at myself when I (was) younger. I think it’s a great opportunity to grow and even learn about me, because I have to give her affirmations — every day I do it.”
Referring to her daughter as “G,” she recites the affirmations she imparts on her:
Your heart and your head are the two most important things in your life.
Mommy’s going to love you more than anyone is ever going to love you — even the love of your life.
Life is going to be hard. I can give you everything, everything that I know, but it’s still going to be hard.
Viola Davis appears on the TODAY Show and talks about the relationship she has with her daughter, Genesis.
She admits that while she is affirming these sentiments aloud to her daughter, she is also speaking to herself.
Viola also shared how her book was inspired by an “existential crisis of meaning” during the COVID pandemic and explains that now that she has reached what she felt was a “glass ceiling” of success, she had to figure out what was next for her.
“The final step is significance; it’s sort of that ownership of every part of you and not putting on that mask of success and moving through life as this other person.”
I’m sure every viewer will be adding these affirmations to a sticky note on their bathroom mirror —thanks, Viola.
The 56-year-old’s memoir is out now. Davis reads the audiobook version herself.
