Gabrielle Union is clear on 2022 being the year her well-being is the priority.
Like the scores of people hoping to make the most of the promise of a fresh start that comes with the new year, the multi-hyphenated talent shared online that her ultimate goal is to choose herself in all ways. In a photo showing off her megawatt smile, a fresh end-of-year tan, and flowing neon-yellow dress, Union-Wade made it clear she is kickstarting the year just as light and free as the dress she adorned.
“New Year, Still Healing. Still working on myself and releasing what no longer serves me,” began Union-Wade in her reflective post just two days into the new year.
She continued, “Embracing personal evolution, accountability and improved communication. Being crystal clear about my boundaries and continuing to ask for help. I felt like I turned to dust in 2021 and I compartmentalize (is that a word [shoulder shrug emoji]) all of my trauma and pain. Time to face the beast. Me. To everyone slaying dragons seen and unseen while trying to be everything to everyone, I see you. Choose you 1st. Love and light good people.”
Her message, unsurprisingly, resonated with her social media followers. “Out of the chrysalis she emerges! [yellow heart emoji],” wrote one of her followers, making reference to Union-Wade’s butterfly-like appearance. Another commented, “Yooo the more you heal the more you glow, it’s amazing to watch you shine in all your greatness and letting go.”
Last year the three-time author released her second memoir, “You Got Anything Stronger?” The follow-up to her New York Times Best Seller “We’re Going to Need More Wine” further delved into the actress and her husband Dwyane Wade’s surrogacy journey to birth daughter Kaavia James, her quirky and comical reflections on countless life moments, and the heartbreaking toll Wade’s having a child with another woman had on her. While most individuals in the public eye seek ways to maintain a sense of true privacy and anonymity in their lives, Union-Wade has opted to be transparent and painfully vulnerable for her own healing, but also that of others.
“A lot of us feel like we are drowning in plain sight and people are walking by us holding life preservers, watching us drown,” she told the hosts of “Good Morning America” during a September 2020 appearance. “With this book, I want to say, ‘I see you. Here’s a life preserver. We can, together, save ourselves.’ ”
Last year the “Breaking In” actress also shared a bittersweet truth about her and Wade’s union. After facing her own struggles of infertility and the new addition of Wade’s son with Aja Metoyer — which occurred during a difficult time between the NBA veteran and Union-Wade — the actress boldly revealed a healed woman would have cut her losses instead of enduring the pain of the relationship.
“The me of today would not have stayed with him, but would I be who I am now without that pain? That fiery explosion that created life and light? The advice I would give myself now would be to leave,” she wrote in her 2021 book. “‘You don’t have to do this. You don’t think you have an option, but you do. Save yourself.’ ”
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