Author: Bonnie (SOAM)

I’ve been struggling this week with negativity and feeling like people in general are forgetting to listen to others and care about how they feel. I think it’s so important to remember to have empathy for others – I would argue that it might even be the ultimate purpose of our lives here on earth, if there is a purpose. And when I hear one person after another judging the people around them, it wears me down.

And I thought, god, I wish people would just be loving to one another.

And then I thought. Hey. I can do that.

So here I am sharing some love. Mamas, you are perfect just as you are. If you have stretch marks, I want you to remember that they are a normal part of having a human body and are therefore beautiful. If you have loose skin, I want you to remember that that is also a part of the experience of motherhood. Time, if not pregnancy and nursing, pull our breasts lower as a normal part of life. Some of us breastfeed and some of us do not for a variety of reasons. Some of us practice attachment parenting and others do not. Some of us act as surrogate moms and others adopt their babies. There is no right or wrong way to be a human, to be a mother. All paths in life have beauty and you are beautiful in those paths. Thank you for being you.

Go share some love with the people around you, okay? Bring some positivity to today.

And don’t forget to check out the post from earlier today. There’s some exciting stuff happening!

Nine years ago when I started this website, it was the only thing like it on the web. It exploded beyond my wildest dreams and within a month I was getting calls from the London Guardian to do a story on it. Over the years SOAM has reached thousands (at least) of new moms every year through news stories, blogs, television shows, and, perhaps most importantly, through word of mouth. And over the past almost decade, many other websites, photography projects, and viral photos have done similar things, spreading the word that the mombod (or any bod) is totally normal and beautiful. I feel like we’ve done some amazing work here at SOAM and I am so proud of what this website has accomplished. <3 But over the last couple of years things have slowed down for SOAM. I've gotten fewer submissions (yet readership hasn't really dropped!) and little exposure in the media. I feel like SOAM can still accomplish a lot - perhaps even more than before as the internet continues to make the world even smaller, and as people hunger even more for the knowledge that they are already normal and beautiful. There are a few things about SOAM that make it stand out from other projects. ~For one thing, I think it's more personal. There are no professional photographers, no fancy lighting or artful poses or depth of field - it's all what you find in your own mirror at home. ~It's more diverse. We've been collecting submissions for more than nine years and with over 2,500 submissions over the years there is literally every type of body represented here. ~Finally, SOAM is a community - if you choose to submit your photos here, you will find mamas all over the world who share your experiences and thoughts. Some of the mamas come back and post updates so we can really get to know them and see how things change for them over the years. And know that it's a safe place; I moderate the comments to keep the trolls out. So I'm asking for your help here, mamas. Let's continue to spread the word that all bodies are beautiful. How can you help? The way I see it, there are three things you can do. You might choose to submit your own story. You don’t have to be nude, and some mamas aren’t ready to share photos at all. That’s okay! We are welcoming to every story. You may point your local media sources to this site to help spread the word to as many mamas as possible. And if neither of those things works for you, you can simply share the link with your own friends and on social media (check out our links at the bottom of the page) and maybe leave some comments for some of the mamas here. After all, without you as the reader, SOAM is nothing.

Thank you so much, mamas, for helping to do this good work in the world. As I said so many years ago when I wrote the blurb on the front page, “I think it would be nothing short of amazing if a few of our hearts are healed, or if we begin to cherish our new bodies which have done so much for the human race. What if the next generation grows up knowing how normal our bodies are? How truly awesome would that be?”