E22: Sarah Bahbah - Addiction, Intuition, Success
Artist Sarah Barber shares her journey of overcoming childhood trauma and addiction through self-discovery and art. She emphasizes the power of intuition, emotional processing, and authentic expression, revealing how these principles shaped her unique creative approach and rapid success.
Deep Dive Analysis
17 Topic Outline
Introduction to Sarah Bahbah and Her Artistic Journey
Childhood Trauma and Early Struggles with Addiction
The Healing Process and Role of Therapy
Sarah's Self-Perception and Personality Traits
The Intuitive Process Behind Her Art Creation
The Importance of Feeling and Self-Connection
The Viral Success of 'Sex and Takeout'
Debunking the Myth of 'Luck' in Success
Personal Weaknesses and Control
Future Artistic and Personal Aspirations
The Source of Unwavering Self-Belief
Managing Anxiety and Healing Inner Child Trauma
Social Media's Impact on Mental Health and Connection
Proposed Changes for Instagram and Facebook as CEO
The Need for Education System Reform
Future Plans for Raising Children and Language Learning
Ideal Dinner Party Guests and Their Significance
8 Key Concepts
Reenacting Trauma
This refers to unconsciously repeating past traumatic experiences through certain behaviors, such as inviting strangers into one's bed but not having sex with them, as a way to re-experience a lack of safety or control.
Apathy
A state of lacking emotion, interest, or concern. Sarah experienced this growing up and actively works against it by focusing on being present and feeling her emotions.
Intuition
An innate sense or gut feeling that guides decisions and actions, which Sarah trusts deeply in her creative process and in forming relationships. It involves trusting an 'inkling' to act, even amidst uncertainty.
Meditation (Grounding)
A practice of removing external distractions and connecting with oneself internally, often through breathing into the belly, to understand and process one's feelings without intellectualizing them. It's about being present with oneself.
Resistance (Creative Block)
The internal struggle, self-talk, and doubt that prevents individuals from executing their ideas. Sarah believes breaking through this resistance is the hardest part of the creative process.
Inner Child Healing
The process of using one's adult self to address and comfort the emotional wounds and unmet needs of one's younger self. This is particularly relevant when anxiety stems from feeling unprotected or unheard in childhood.
Content ID (for Visual Artists)
A proposed system for social media platforms to automatically identify and protect original visual content, similar to how music and video are protected. This aims to combat plagiarism and copyright infringement for artists.
The 'Brick' Initiative
A social experiment where participants intentionally turn their phones into 'bricks' (e.g., sealing them in VCR cases) for a period. The goal is to foster in-person connection and allow participants to disconnect from digital distractions.
9 Questions Answered
Her upbringing in a conservative Middle Eastern home with conflicting religious views, coupled with childhood sexual abuse and a subsequent struggle with anxiety, addiction, and eating disorders, led her to a journey of self-discovery and expression through art.
Her art is born from intense personal feelings, often during breakups or grievances. She records one-liners in her phone notes, and when intuition strikes, she creates a series within 24-48 hours, trusting the universe's timing.
By understanding and sitting with one's feelings, rather than constantly distracting oneself, one can control behavior instead of merely reacting, fostering self-dependency and deeper self-connection.
After initially releasing it in October 2014, she strategically planted an article on Buzzfeed community in January 2015, leading to 50,000 new followers in 24 hours and widespread pickup by publications like Elite Daily, which then made it viral.
She believes luck doesn't exist; instead, what people perceive as luck is the result of intense hard work, strategic effort, and pushing through resistance, often over extended periods that outsiders don't see.
She views anxiety as a coping mechanism stemming from feeling unprotected or unheard in childhood. She reduces it by identifying its source, using her adult self to heal her inner child, and practicing meditation and breathing techniques instead of numbing herself.
She would implement a robust content ID system for visual artists to prevent plagiarism and copyright infringement, making it easy to report and immediately remove non-original content.
She believes it's outdated and irrelevant, failing to prepare children for modern society. She advocates for a system that crafts children's learning based on their individual behavioral traits and skill sets from an early age.
She believes language provides a deeper connection to different cultures and cities, and she wants to empower her children with this ability, planning to travel with them to immerse them in the languages they learn.
13 Actionable Insights
1. Comprehensive Trauma Healing Protocol
After experiencing trauma, implement a multi-faceted healing protocol including consistent therapy (initially full-time), physical training, and changing your living environment to support recovery and uncover repressed memories.
2. Cultivate Self-Belief by Trusting Intuition
Develop strong self-belief by trusting your inner ‘inkling’ or intuition to act on ideas, even when uncertain about the outcome, and embrace the unknown rather than succumbing to self-doubt.
3. Confront Emotions Directly
Instead of using distractions like phones, binging, or substances to escape feelings, consciously sit with your emotions, allow yourself to feel them fully, and cry if necessary to process them.
4. Act on Intuitive Urges Quickly
When a strong intuitive feeling or creative urge arises, act on it immediately (e.g., within 24-48 hours) without overthinking, as this rapid execution can lead to significant breakthroughs and creative output.
5. Establish Phone-Free Morning & Evening Routines
Improve mental health and rest by putting your phone on airplane mode 1-2 hours before bed and not checking it for an hour after waking, allowing for self-connection and a grounded start to your day.
6. Manage Anxiety Through Self-Connection
Address anxiety by understanding its root (often from feeling unprotected or unheard) and actively engaging with it through meditation, deep belly breathing, and checking in with your inner child.
7. Prioritize Authenticity in Creation
Create from a deeply personal and real place, sharing your genuine story and healing journey, as this authenticity resonates profoundly with others and fosters connection beyond curated perfection.
8. Redefine Luck as Persistent Effort
Understand that perceived ’luck’ is often the result of consistent hard work, strategic planning, and sustained energy invested in an idea over time, rather than a random fortunate event.
9. Maintain Regular Therapy Check-ins
Even after significant healing and progress, continue regular therapy sessions (e.g., bi-weekly) to maintain mental well-being, have a consistent support system, and prevent regression.
10. Process Emotions Through Creative Outlets
When overwhelmed by strong emotions, use creative expression (like writing one-liners in phone notes) to process feelings in real-time, rather than delaying self-reflection until a later burst.
11. Implement Regular Digital Detoxes
Engage in structured digital detoxes (e.g., for a weekend using a ‘brick’ method) to foster real-world connections, recharge mentally, and reconnect with yourself without constant digital distractions.
12. Set Clear End Goals
Define clear end goals for your projects and career paths to create motivation for moving on to new challenges and prevent stagnation, embracing the idea that creativity shouldn’t be limited to one thing.
13. Foster Child Development Through Observation & Mentorship
If raising children, observe their innate strengths and interests, give them freedom to express, and provide specialized mentors to develop their unique skill sets.
7 Key Quotes
I can't let my energy live in you while you live in someone else.
Sarah Bahbah
We're constantly escaping. And whenever we feel a sense of anxiety or excitement or happiness, we don't just sit with ourselves and we don't, we don't feel what we're feeling.
Sarah Bahbah
In me helping myself heal, I'm helping others to heal too. I'm giving them words that they otherwise can't come up with.
Sarah Bahbah
I personally don't think luck exists. I think people who call it luck don't know what hard work is.
Sarah Bahbah
Creativity shouldn't be limited to just one thing and we should aim to have end goals so we can push ourselves to do the next thing.
Sarah Bahbah
You don't realize how addicted you are until you're off it.
Sarah Bahbah
The inner child is the one that's screaming at you when you have anxiety. And so it's up to your adult self to help your inner child through it.
Sarah Bahbah
2 Protocols
Sarah Bahbah's Anxiety Management Protocol
Sarah Bahbah- Identify the source of anxiety, recognizing it as a coping mechanism from feeling unprotected or unheard.
- Use your adult self to heal your inner child, who is 'screaming' during anxiety.
- Practice meditation and breathing into your belly, grounding yourself and being present with the feeling.
- Avoid numbing the anxiety with distractions.
Sarah Bahbah's Digital Disconnection Protocol
Sarah Bahbah- Put your phone on airplane mode two hours before bed (or at least one hour, depending on work schedule).
- Do not turn your phone off airplane mode for an hour after waking up.
- Use this disconnected time to be with yourself, feel the morning, and spend time connecting internally before facing the external world.