Hello! I’ve missed you the last few weeks!

If you’re like me, there is so much happening in the quiet of real life, away from the noise of the internet and social media.

If you are like me, and your work involves sharing online, it gets tricky. There are seasons where everything happening around me is easy to share, and others…well, others seasons are not for sharing. I find it difficult to write during those seasons because transparency feels too tense. But here’s the thing: It is okay to be a different version of yourself for a time. Maybe writing will be hard during this season for me, but I can write. I can write what I need to hear, and what I know so many of you will connect to, as my dear friends reminded me.

The Weekly Word | Behind the Scenes of Life | Shaunna Parker

There are so many of us dealing with so much that doesn’t make it to the glossy pages of our websites and social channels. And that’s how it should be. We were not meant to share every detail of our world with the world, literally. Some people move right through that part easily. Some of us, though, struggle to show up and share all the work bits, tips and tricks, or bare our soul when our soul is doing the aching.

We all have a behind the scenes.

The Weekly Word | Behind the Scenes of Life | Shaunna Parker

So here’s what I’m going to do about that. For me, writing is like breathing or brushing my teeth every morning. It feels very funny and I don’t feel like myself if I’m not. So, I will show up here at least once a week and write. It may look a little different. Some days I might only be able to pull a silly story out of my head or write stream of consciousness or share something happening in the studio. Some weeks I will be able to pour my heart out onto the screen, and it will feel normal to me, and to you.

So why share all this? Because maybe you need to hear it. I know I do. Maybe you need to know there are ways to keep going when it feels like it’s just too sticky of a web to dodge.

The Weekly Word | Behind the Scenes of Life | Shaunna Parker

For the one who has more happening than they feel they can bear and more than they need to share….

The Weekly Word | Behind the Scenes | Shaunna Parker | Writer

You are not alone. This season is going to pass. You will wade and wade and wade until one day, you will pass through into the next place. It will feel long, and lonely, and impossible, but you keep walking. Keep saying out loud how hard it is, because it is. Then take another step. You don’t have to be okay to walk through it. You can hurt and bleed and cry and grieve and still, you can walk. Your behind the scenes life is your most precious life. Sit with it for a while. Take care of it. Give yourself permission to pause. Give yourself permission to be all of who you are, and not simply the shiniest version. And after the wading, tell us how you made it through.