Even though she still has a few weeks to go before the birth of her first child, Gina Rodriguez is already a pro at being a working mom.
On top of readying for first-time parenthood with husband Joe LoCicero, the Jane the Virgin alum is currently gearing up for the Feb. 8 debut of her new series Not Dead Yet.
"That's what life is," the 38-year-old actress — who's pulling double duty as a star and executive producer on the ABC comedy — exclusively tells PEOPLE. "It's everything, everywhere, all at once, right? I love that movie, but also the title is just so apropos to life itself."
"It's all the things. It's all the things, all at once. And I'm just trying to let go," she continues. "At some times, successfully letting go. At other times, gripping too hard."
Instead of being thrown off by life's ups and downs, Rodriguez tries to savor them: "When you sit in it, it feels like you're alive. I enjoy that feeling."
In fact, her new series is all about embracing change — her character Nell Serrano is fresh off a breakup and returning to her California roots. Though she feels disappointed and stuck when she returns to her former employer in a new role, she isn't prepared for the unexpected ways in which the new position will transform her life.
Rodriguez says that it's been "a phenomenal experience making this television show, but also pretty monumental in my existence."
"I really love playing this character that is flawed but trying so hard and wanting so badly to fix or to feel better or to just be happy after this," she explains. "You'll end up seeing over the course of the series why — what she went through, what sent her off on this new journey. I really just love that."
In describing the series as a whole, Rodriguez says she believes "it's about self-reflection, and it's about growth, and it's about friendship, and it's about the power of self-healing." But she also teases that Not Dead Yet is sure to put viewers through a mix of emotions.
"It makes you laugh, and it makes you cry. Everybody is on their own experience, but they're all trying to help each other," she continues. "I just think right now, I want to watch this kind of television that helps me escape, but at the same time helps me reflect in a way that's going to make me excited by the end of it. It's going to keep me hopeful. I've just been in that space, for years now, to be honest."
Being a part of a series like this has also allowed Rodriguez to reflect on how she's living her own life — specifically when it comes to being mindful of appreciating what's right in front of her.
"This has been something I've been working on for years, but obviously because of the pandemic as well, is just really appreciating everything that is and not what I want it to be," she shares. "Really accepting the story that life is unfolding in front of me versus the story I want or the story I think it should be or the story I think it should be telling. That's how I think I've been living life to the fullest."
Not Dead Yet premieres Feb. 8 on ABC.
