Life Blog

  • 4 Things that Bipolar Disorder Taught Me About Accountability

    I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 in the spring of 2023. After over a decade of managing symptoms on my own, this diagnosis came as a relief. For years I lived with the fear of losing control of my mind and body, and saying and doing things I would regret. For years I had to

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  • Regaining our Humanity: community in a time of isolation

    When did humanity become so inhumane? Archaeologist Margaret Mead once famously said “The first sign of civilization is a healed femur”. In a time agriculture, when humans survived by hunting and gathering in a nomadic lifestyle, a broken leg would be a death sentence to someone trying to survive on their own. Someone with a

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  • Winter Reflections: Seeing Myself in the Season

    If I were a season I’d be winter. Not just because I was born in December, and not because physical appearance can only be described as “snowy”. It’s not anything so obvious and concrete. The connection is more of a feeling beyond reason. I don’t know if I can say that winter is my favorite

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  • First Impressions

    First Impressions

    I’ve been told I’m intimidating. This is a comment I’ve always found amusing because I am barely 5 feet tall, and only recently met the weight limit to donate blood. Perhaps this perception of my intimidating presence comes from my refusal to be intimidated by others. I’ve been afraid for my safety on several occasions,

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  • In 3 Years

    In 3 Years

    Time moves differently as you age. When you’re a child, three years feels like an eternity. As a teen, three years feels like another lifetime. As a young adult, three years feels life changing. As an adult, three years feels like no time at all. Maybe that’s because you’ve already lived 3 years several times

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  • The Past is Past

    The Past is Past

    Even if I could go back, I wouldn’t. There have been many good years of my life that I look back on fondly. And there have been many difficult years of my life, that might have turned out differently if I knew then what I know now. Still, I wouldn’t change anything if I could.

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  • New House, New Life

    New House, New Life

    I bought a house yesterday. It remains to be seen if this is a commitment I am ready for, but the papers are signed, and money changed hands, so It’s too late to back out now. Over the last month we’ve been slowly packing up the apartment for the move. We’ve been taking everything box-by-box

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  • The Little House of Our Dreams

    My partner and I have been thinking about buying a house. There’s a little house in the center of town that’s been left empty for nearly 30 years. The house was built in 1905, then bought by a famous beauty school in 1965. As far as the county records show the building has been empty

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  • Nameless: Names and Shifting Identities

    Sometimes I am Ashley, and Sometimes Mae. I am one, I am none, I am both. My identity is complex and ever shifting with the seasons. Sometimes I am “Ashley”- the gifted middle child who overcame an unstable upbringing to become a successful business woman. Sometimes I am “Mae”- the impulsive creative with a Renaissance

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  • Broken Pinky promise: how a broken finger ended a bad relationship for good.

    I broke my pinky finger once. I didn’t break the bone, but I tore a ligament pretty badly which required me to wear a splint on for a few weeks. It happened when I was back in college, working full time as a night-shift janitor. I was sleep deprived, and distracted because my on-again-off-again boyfriend

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