As a part of the Morning Lazziness series about empowering women who are encouraging and doing incredible things with their ideas in society, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sara Ahmed.
Sara Ahmed is a Texas-based writer and content creator who loves using her platform to highlight diversity, body positivity, and mental wellness, especially for moms. When not busy raising her two boys, she writes for many popular magazines sharing her thoughts related to family and parenting. You can be found her on Instagram.
And, currently, she’s finishing work on her first children’s book, due out in 2022.
Such a pleasure having you; please let our users know about yourself and your journey as a writer?
I started writing when I was in second grade and never really stopped. I never considered writing as an actual career path until I got to my mid-30s and was staying home with my little babies. It was at that time that I started writing again and rediscovered how much joy it brought me. I submitted a pitch to Popsugar, and once they picked it up, the rest is history. I’ve now written over 120 articles for Popsugar and have had bylines in Scary Mommy, Huffington Post, and Thrive Global.
What inspired you the most to follow this career?
I think having a passion for communicating is key for writing; ultimately, every writer wants to connect with their reader and articulate experiences that are relatable through universal human emotions.
How did you come up with this thoughtful idea of spreading positivity and empowering women?
It was part of my own personal journey. As I found success in becoming a content creator, I had to face a lot of my own insecurities about being in front of a camera. This led to a heightened sense of awareness about the way I had been thinking about my body my entire life and realized that the narrative didn’t serve me any purpose. Choosing to fall in love with myself has been a profound journey, and changing the way I think about my body has been crucial in shifting my perspective.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I would have to say connecting with women from all walks of life and creating meaningful content for them has been so interesting. It has been such a wonderful gift to form relationships with diverse moms, young writers, and a variety of bloggers who are all looking for the same thing – authentic connection.
How do your excellent ideas and way of spreading awareness about body positivity positively change this society?
I think more than anything else; it comes down to showing up as you are and knowing that representation is key in changing society and its harmful rhetoric about women and weight. No matter how difficult it sometimes feels, showing up as yourself and believing that there are people who need to see (and connect with) this version of representation is important in normalizing body positivity, irrespective of your size.
How do you personally overcome fear?
The best thing I did for myself was embraced daily meditation – it’s an exquisite practice to turn inward, still your mind, and find the strength to soar and courage to persevere – time and again.
What do you do every day to keep yourself cheerful?
Start the day with a cup of coffee and set my intentions for the day with gratitude.
It’s a mindset and doesn’t come automatically to most of us so being deliberate in choosing to be cheerful is key for me.
What does the world need more of right now?
Definitely empathy. I’m not sure why our society has become so incredibly critical of others and lost the ability to see things through someone else’s eyes. Compassion is so easy to foster when you can view things from someone else’s perspective and understand that there are unlimited possibilities in how we think and process our experiences and emotions.
Would you please share some advice for those women who want inspiration and motivation to take their life in the right direction?
Look, no one can change your life but you. When you understand the full capacity of power and strength that you have, you’ll become unstoppable. When we keep looking outside ourselves for approval, we’ll always be searching, but when we can harness the power of our thoughts and beliefs, we grow in ways we never thought possible. There’s no better expert on you than YOU, so start looking inward for the answers, and they will change your life.
What is your favorite mantra or affirmation that you say to yourself to keep you going?
“Give yourself grace and be deliberate in how your inner voice speaks to you.”
Lastly, what does success mean to you?
Success isn’t a destination, so I try to look for daily wins to reinforce the idea that I am already successful and moving forward with abundance. In its simplest form, success is contenting with where you already are.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
