Tia Mowry has a refreshing take on divorce. The Sister, Sister star stopped by TODAY with Hoda & Jenna and opened up about divorcing Cory Hardrict and why instead of looking at ending her marriage as a failure, she is looking at it as a "graduation."
“I knew when I really started to focus on my happiness,” she said when asked when she believed her marriage was over. “I feel like women, we tend to focus on everybody else’s happiness, making sure that everybody else is okay — meaning our children, our friends, our family."
“But at the end of the day, it’s about self-love. When you start to really work on yourself, love yourself, know your value and know your worth, then all of a sudden, there’s this awakening. And it’s not easy. It’s a hard journey, but at the end of the day, I feel like it is so, so worth it.”
The 44-year-old’s social media followers have had a front-row seat to her self-love journey. Over the last couple of years, Tia has shared inspirational posts about self-love, self-care, and happiness. Sprinkled in were also adorable moments with her family. She shares two children with the All-American: Homecoming actor, Cree, 11, and Cairo, 4.
While surveying her life, she started therapy and also uncovered that she was dealing with a bit of sadness. “I feel like when I started to, again, like I said, focus on myself, but there was this sadness. And I knew that life is short,” she said. “I had actually lost my grandmother. We had lost Alaina Housley (Tia’s twin sister Tamera Mowry Housely’s niece who was killed in the 2018 California mass shooting.) And both of them at the same time.”
She continued, “There was just an 'aha' moment in me where I said, ‘You know what? We need to tap in, see what’s really going on with your happiness. Life is short. Let’s go. Let’s start working on you and really focusing on what really, really matters here, which is at the end of the day, your peace, your joy and your happiness.’”
Tia announced her divorce from Cory in an Instagram post on Oct. 4 after filing the day before. The divorce documents cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their marriage’s demise. The Game actress, however, is looking at the end of her marriage through a different lens.
“My marriage was a success. I look at it as like a curriculum when you’re in college or high school. You’re learning, you’re growing, you’re evolving, you’re creating. I was able to create with Cory some beautiful, amazing children,” she explained. “At the end of that curriculum, there's a graduation, there’s a celebration. So that’s basically how I’m looking at it now.”
“And I feel like ... when (people) look at marriage, success equals longevity. But, no, at the end of the day, it’s are they happy? Are they thriving? Are they growing? I feel like that is what is most important. It’s not about staying in something because however long you are in that situation that equals success. It’s about really, again, are you happy? Because life is really short.”
Tia and Cory were married for 14 years.
Feature image by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
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