Blog

Maybe blogging isn’t dead. At least, not yet.

  • Paper and Pixels

    Paper and Pixels

    I go through paper Like it grows on trees And I live in a forest. Putting pen to the page Is grounding in a way Typing is not.  Paper grants the freedom To organize my thoughts Beyond the bounds Of pixels and bytes.

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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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  • Toxic Productivity: What is productivity anyway?

    Sometimes I find myself thinking “I should be working” in the middle of work. I’ll be in the middle of research, or designing a newsletter for a client when the thought strikes. Logically, I understand that I am working but it’s as if my inherited Puritan work ethic refuses to acknowledge anything enjoyable as being…

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  • The Pen and the Sword

    The Pen and the Sword

    I’ve long suspected that I’d never live by  The word.  The pen is not the sword that cuts  My path.  It hangs on the wall as mere decoration Because I lack what it takes to  Become The warrior poet

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  • Life Experience and Quiet Lessons: do trials really make you stronger?

    I always hated when people told me that adversity would make me stronger. I tried to believe it at first- that all the bad things that happened to me in my childhood and early adult years would make me a better person but it didn’t. A childhood full of poverty, abuse, and constant uprooting didn’t…

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  • Working My Way Back Up: Returning to work after a winter hiatus.

    I am going back to work. In November I quit my corporate job after 5 years working my way up the ladder. I gained a lot of valuable skills and experience in my time, and am truly grateful for the opportunities that job offered me. But, I don’t regret my decision to leave. After working…

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  • 15 Minutes with myself: what I would tell my teenage self

    There’s a Book Series I really Enjoy called “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” This modern urban fantasy is about a tiny cafe in Japan with the unique ability to send a drinker back to the past for a short period of time- the length of time it takes for a cup of coffee to get…

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  • Life Budgeting: how I approach spending

    My budgeting strategy is financial anxiety. The shadow of childhood poverty never truly goes away. It continues to follow you for the rest of your life, rearing it’s ugly head in unexpected ways. Even now, I make more money than I ever have in my life, and I still save pennies and continuously track my…

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  • A Whole Love: Why My Partner Isn’t My “Other Half”

    I don’t need my partner. I love my partner deeply. He is considerate, patient, goofy, talented, smart, and attractive. As far as heterosexual dating goes, I hit the jackpot. In the 18 months we have been dating, he has added to my happiness and emotional health by leaps and bounds. I don’t want to imagine…

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