EXCLUSIVE: YouTuber SoSonia Talks Inspiration For Her Self Love Video

The creative teen’s latest video is so YSBnow.

YouTuber SoSonia released a video this week that caught our eye. Her “Better Reflections” piece tackles the idea of what happens when we grow up and start to really take notice of our appearance instead of just living our lives the way we want to live them. Climbing trees and skateboarding might still be an important part of her life, but Sonia discusses how she also began to start spending more time looking in the mirror and what that means. 

We asked Sonia about the inspiration for the new video and what she wants you, the viewer, to take away from it. 

YSBnow: Where did the inspiration for the video come from?

Sonia: The inspiration for Better Reflections came from this urge to speak up about what is screaming at us when we look in the mirror each morning. I’ve watched so many of my friends criticize and cringe at what they see in the mirror – and it’s upsetting to me. From my point of view, all I see is a beautiful reflection of someone I love dearly. Beauty is such a complex topic, which is why it’s always on my mind when it comes to creating and making videos.

Around a year ago I wrote a short story with the same title. It was about this woman who was all alone, looking at herself in the mirror. The idea of her stuck with me much longer than I expected, I knew I needed to turn the idea into something more. So – I picked up my camera and began filming. I asked my friends to join in, and together I hope we shine a shameless light on the love you can learn to have for yourself, and what you see in the mirror.

YSB: What do you hope your audience takes away from it?

Sonia: I hope my audience and the SoulPancake community will finish watching the video with the urge to continue the conversation. Reflections are a huge part of our day-to-day lives, and I really hope this video can reach people who might need it the message most. I want people to know that this film was made for them: My friends in the mirror, the woman who sells flowers on the corner who doesn’t know how the sunlight light makes her looks like a goddess, the boy who shrugs as he passes by a shop window, everyone. If I can remind one person to feel beautiful when they look in the mirror – all of my hopes will be surpassed.

YSB: What has your own journey been like with self-love?

My journey is still happening every day – especially now that I’m living on my own, truly feeling like a woman for the first time. I tried putting in little ways I look and appreciate myself into this video. The ukulele song in the background, for example, is actually an iPhone recording of a song a friend played for me once. It made me feel so beautiful when I listened to it – so I knew it had to be in the film somehow. As silly as it might sound, I think so much of self-love has to do with the people you surround yourself with – I can attribute so much of my peace with loving myself to the people I have relationships with.

I recently went through a break-up. After two years, I realized that I was not paying attention to myself, and I wasn’t loving myself fully. The night we broke up, I took a bunch of self-portraits… and they made it into the film. They’re little reminders that my beauty isn’t determined by anyone else but myself. Reminders that I am still on the journey – but I’m getting there!

While most 18-year-olds are in class, or at practice with other people their age. My path has been a little, okay, vastly different form most 18-year-olds, I go to work in the SoulPancake office where people are much older than I am, and I typically find myself hanging out older people outside of work too. This has really helped me find a way to let go of so many insecurities from when I was younger, and turn them into my biggest points of happiness and confidence. Of course, there’s a lot of this journey that I’ve left out, but I can tell you that I’ve never felt more kind to myself than in the here and now, at this age and perspective. It feels incredible.

I really hope this conversation can continue, and I wish every one the best of luck in their own journey of self-love! If they want to, there are instructions for how they can participate in my next video at the end of this film.

Get more Sonia at YouTube.com/SOSoniaChannel