• 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…

    Read more →

  • The Note You Left

    The Note You Left

    I found the note you leftIn the book I lent you years ago.So long ago now,That I’d forgotten that you had borrowed it at all. I found the note you left,Tucked between the cover and the first page.So long ago now,That the pencil marks have almost faded away. I found the note you left,Back when…

    Read more →

  • 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…

    Read more →

  • 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…

    Read more →

  • 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

    Read more →

  • I wish you the night

    I wish you the night

    I wish life was as soft as a bedtime story-Gentle tales about gentle lives. I wish the world was as simple as a fairytale,With clear distinctions between wrong and right. I wish that reality was as gentle as a lullabye,With the soothing notes soft as starlight. I wish you an eternity of peaceful dreamsThe sweet…

    Read more →

  • Wind

    Wind

    I’ve always loved the wind. I love hearing it howl through the chimney like a restless spirit and tickle wind chimes like a fairy. I love watching it shake tree branches, and make leaves dance across the street. I love feeling it cool my skin on hot summer days, and steel my breath away in…

    Read more →

  • 3-in-1

    3-in-1

    Like the 3 faced goddess, I’ve lived 3 lives in one: see The maiden I was, the mother I am, And the crone I’ll become. The Circle of Life and the Wheel of Time Spin together as one. In an unending dance- It shifts like the moon and rises like the sun. Ever present in…

    Read more →

  • 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…

    Read more →

  • 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…

    Read more →