Choosing to Show Up, No Matter What

YESTERDAY I MET SOMEONE I used to coach. We were just catching up, talking about life, work, everything really. And I told her that I’m not making a living out of coaching yet. That it’s a huge process to build a sustainable income around this work… starting from scratch. And that I've been living on a bank loan this year, which is somewhat stressy... knowing that it won't last forever.

I also told her that I’m really struggling with social media. That sometimes I wonder how I can just talk about self-love, personal empowerment or pleasure, or post happy images, when there’s so much suffering in the world.

There was a time when I believed I didn’t even have the right to think about my own happiness – that I wasn’t allowed to want anything for myself when I could see so clearly how much pain and injustice there was in the world. I became someone who spoke out a lot. That old me would be posting about politics, injustice, war, climate, dictators, presidents, Gaza … everything.

BUT NOW I'VE MADE a conscious decision to focus on love instead of division, conflict or polarity. So I’m not filling my page with posts about war and crisis and criticizing politicians and governments. Although sometimes I do struggle with staying quiet. And honestly, I don’t think I even want to fully remain silent when it comes to human rights, gender equality, sexual rights, children, humanity… So I’m not promising I’ll never go down that road again. I haven’t closed my eyes. And part of me feels that even posting this is questionable, when I really should be on barricades. What’s happening in Gaza is unbearable.

And still – I want my social media presence to mostly focus on what I can offer to the world. On what I’m here to do. And also… I’m not that girl anymore – that girl who believed self-love was selfish. Now I know better.

But yeah. This whole thing around showing up on social media has been complicated for me. Not just because of what I just shared, but also because I don’t want to push or perform. And how do I show up authentically, when the most authentic thing for me would probably be not showing up at all?

And then there’s also the language thing. Should I write/talk in Finnish or in English? And can I be inconsistent on that? But that’s a whole topic on its own, and I won’t go into that now.

ANYWAY. WHEN I SAID ALL THIS to her, she looked at me and said:

“But Laura, do you understand how much you helped me in our sessions?… Your support was priceless to me... I learned so much about myself, and you opened my eyes and my mind in a way that truly changed me. I am so grateful for your coaching. And I really think that you have to put yourself out there and talk about your work. There are so many women who need it."

She said a lot more (and it was all in Finnish), but you get the point. And so did I.

This isn’t really about me being ready to show up – it’s about showing up anyway, no matter what. And talking about love, empowerment and pleasure anyway, no matter what.

Because there are women out there who need my work. And they won’t find me if I’m hiding.

That’s all folks. Be well!

❤️ Laura

This text began as a spontaneous Facebook post during a time of self-reflection about my work, my voice, and how I want to show up in the world. I decided to share it here too – because the message still feels true, and it resonated with so many.

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