Behind the Curtain with Lauren Shippy

There’s something about a new season that can feel both exciting and unnerving.

In this first episode back on Behind the Curtain, I’m thinking about your authentic voice, identity, and what it looks like to walk into who you were created to be.

We talk about looking back at the things that have shaped you—the good parts you want to carry with you and the harder things you may need to process without getting stuck there—and then paying attention to what may be developing in you now.

Sometimes a new season can feel a lot like learning to walk.

You’re a little shaky. Things feel disrupted. You don’t completely know how to move in it yet. And then, little by little, you start to find your footing.

We also talk about distraction, calling, making space for what’s next, and why alignment doesn’t necessarily mean doing something bigger. It’s about becoming more of who you really are.

I don’t want to spend my days walking around in a fog. I want to be fully alive.

And I think part of that comes from knowing who you are, recognizing the season you’re in, and being willing to walk into what’s next.

For more, visit StoryWork.co.

We manipulate in order to gain some form of control, but the truth is, we never really had control anyway.

It’s an illusion - and manipulation is its sneaky counterpart.

It tries to get us to “go in the back door”, when the front door is sitting right there all along.

Listen in as we unpack manipulation and replace it with something new.

Shame feels like a wet blanket, like a dark cloud coming over you. It might feel like this internal, recurring guilt in your soul.

Whatever is it that you’re feeling bad about, replays in your mind, maybe it comes in at some unexpected moments, catching you off guard, and you feel it come back again. When you move throughout your day, it can look like the inability to make eye contact with people, taking a back seat in conversations or feeling paralyzed when you want to move. 

This is the blanket of shame and it can be heavy!

The good news? You don’t have to carry it. You can set it down.

Listen in as we unpack self reliance, outdated operating systems, and the ability to replace this with a new way that with holds no good thing.

There’s still work to be done! Get to the starting line - and wait for the signal, be postured and positioned for whatever it is that you’re moving toward in this new year.

The disappointment from your last season? It will be wiped clean. Begin again - with a new end in mind. Spread hope to those around you. You will not be disappointed.

If you’re tired and overwhelmed today - this one is for you. Take one step at a time, it will free you from exhaustion, light the way for you slowly and consistently and you will have what you need, when you take the one step of faith in your new direction. 

Look around, and most importantly, look up! This episode is all about the choice to cultivate wonder again.

Your direction matters. Be open to a new direction! The things of the past will not be the things of the future. This word is all about noticing what’s coming your way. 

New things are coming - and having fresh eyes to see will "make room" for them. If we're still wearing the old glasses, we can't quite see the "new" clearly.