Jill Scott Opens Up About Her Divorce: ‘It Was Time To Go.’

In the latest digital issue of Rolling Out, Jill Scott opens up about her five year marriage and divorce, and how her being a mother to a 4-year-old has taught her a tough lesson about love. Peep a few excerpts of her interview:

Love is hard. Finding someone to fall in love with is the hardest part of all. Infatuation is easy. We get caught up in someone’s looks, or their money, but not the person. Or, we’re into someone for a couple of months and then the novelty fades and we’re on to the next. Love is bigger than just the emotion for the moment. Love requires patience. It requires communication. It requires and demands mutual respect and understanding. In this quick-paced world, we want immediate gratification. Our idea of love and having that is great, but the immediate gratification of having it all is what most people are after in this microwavable world. That’s what makes it such a challenge. We have to change our mentality if we want relationships that will last. Finding someone or meeting someone who is equally yoked — that’s major. Not just financially, but someone who is willing to participate with you in life and love. All of those things are what I was told to look for.

She continues:

When it was time to go, it was time to go. I now know if I were to ever get married again, it’s all the way or we’re not going. We’re not making that next move at all. That’s the issue with me. That means I have to find someone willing to make that same exact commitment. If not, life is good. Fruit is sweet, traveling is awesome, and family is healthy. I’ll live, but I would prefer to sit and love someone equally. I’m understanding love even more because I have a child. I know regardless of what he does; spill juice all over the floor or draw on the wall, that I still love him anyway. I still want his company. I still have a deep desire to hold his hand. That’s the next level of love regardless of what’s going on. We still care for one another. We’ve lost a lot of that….It’s not about falling for just anybody. You want to love the whole person. I think we’re all on a hunt. I think everybody wants to be loved and appreciated and wanted. But, you can’t just choose whoever fits the bill. There has to be a connection in a very real way. You have to be there through the good and bad times. I think this movie opens the door for us to explore those thoughts. It’s funny, it’s cute, and it’s very romantic.”

The Philadelphia native is co-starring in David E. Talbert’s latest film, Baggage Claim, alongside Paula Patton, Derek Luke and Boris Kodjoe.

[Rolling Out]