Book 2 of 35: Worthy by Jada Pinkett Smith

“Worthy” by Jada Pinkett Smith

If healing from trauma were a ball of tangled yarn, Jada Pinkett Smith’s memoir “Worthy” would be the loose thread that you start pulling to extricate parts of your own story. Throughout the book, I found myself detangling my own discovery, recognition, and healing process. I’ve been a fan of Jada’s Red Table Talk for a few years and was excited to read this memoir and hear more about her story. Despite our lives having very little in common on the surface, her path to self-discovery, feminist awakening, and healing from childhood trauma were entirely relatable. So relatable that I felt a shiver of excitement and validation because many of her words mirrored my own thoughts. Her depictions, while not always flattering, resonate so much more deeply because of their unapologetic honesty.

For anyone who has come to this memoir for the celebrity gossip and tales of her relationship with Will, it’s likely to disappoint. She doesn’t shy away, but I commend her ability to prioritize the telling of HER story rather than being defined or validated by her relationships to the famous men in her life—which is its own feminist rebellion. Hers is a tale of overcoming hardships, addiction, succeeding against the odds, trying to retain a sense of self-hood in a culture and industry that tries to mold women into narrow slivers of being, and learning to stand out while in the shadow of a superstar husband. She also explores the emotional rollercoaster of working for and then getting what you want only to find emptiness where you expected fulfillment. To having and loving children who are her little gurus but cannot replace the need for being a full person outside of motherhood. It’s about finding herself living a beautiful life filled with all that she strove to achieve, and still feeling trapped in the void where contentment was supposed to be. She explores deep wounds, including making heart-breaking choices about how best to help and what is owed to those around her, even family members. It is an exploration of finding safety outside of survival mode, being a good person by her own definition, and her path to healing, self-embodiment, and finding purpose. 

Worthy is a deeply feminist story that is not always easy. Not always flattering. But the honesty, vulnerability, and desire to share what she has learned in a nonjudgmental way is worth the read. Having never tried any kind of hallucinogen, I found myself more interested in her ayahuasca journey that I expected to be. I always appreciate when I go into something with a relatively closed mind and find my ideas shifting and opening as I read. If our lives are defined by the stories we tell and believe, then it seems plausible that through new perspectives, therapy, or substances, there are infinite potential tools to create new endings. Days after finishing, I find myself thinking about parts of this book, recognizing bits and pieces as they pop up in my day-to-day life. Any book that stays with me, makes me feel seen, and opens my mind is always going to be one I’d recommend. 

Behind The Image:

The image of a coconut kept popping up for me as I read this memoir. As I thought more about it, I realized that its hard exterior protects what is on the inside, where it contains everything needed for survival. I also wanted to incorporate the red table and add embellishments of the black panther and ayahuasca leaves as a nod to her journey. Overall, I wanted it to feel like if White Lotus had a cookbook. While not a recipe for healing and self-discovery, exactly, it’s at least leaving a trail of breadcrumbs if one is so inclined to follow.