Priya Arya

Emotionality Strategist, Smilofy

My life began after I started making decisions for myself and sticking with them. I have had my share of Ups and Downs and career changes but ultimately, I recognize that every phase of my life has strengthened the skills that solidify the person that I am, today.

My career had me picking up on life skills as I progressed in life as a Hotel Management Associate, moving onto Marketing and then the TV Industry. On the personal front, losing my husband at a time when the industry was changing its nature put my professional career into overdrive. I struggled, I chased my dreams, I filled my life with people, ultimately, exhausted myself, skill-wise.

Moving to another city gave me a new set of trials where I had to make peace with the calmness and in turn, silence. I wanted to fill that void with emotional strength and pursued counselling, training, NGO management, social activism, politics and working in emotional intelligence teaches you to accept yourself entirely before preaching to others.

Up until this point, I had lived an eventful life and had surrounded myself with people all along. I now wanted to learn to be with myself and fill a void that no one else could. My loneliness in a crowd taught me how to choose people who I wanted to be with.

I chose to have a child, via Sperm Donor and despite the stigma and initial challenges of single motherhood, I was proud to have made this decision. My support system was strong, I come from a family of strong, fearless women and that somewhere played a pivotal role in my life.

I had lowered my expectations of people to understand nor did I crave acceptance or sympathy from the world. This analogy kept me grounded, and I was in turn not met with any form of dubiousness. We only worry about what others think when we aren't sure about ourselves in the first place.

Today, I share a wonderful relationship with my son and I am surrounded by strong, empowered people, my work makes me happy and I know that living my life in my own terms requires courage, growth and acceptance. I believe every human is beautiful. We just need to shed our fears and connect straight from the heart. The power to change the world around us is within us.

How I see myself, that's exactly how I will see the world around me. I am madly, unabashedly in love with myself, and that's the reason I find love, respect and unconditional support around me. No social stigma and only acceptance are possible only once you learn the art of loving yourself while accepting diversity. Peace within while maintaining peace around us!”

Interviewed and transcribed by Maryam Syed