It starts with you.
Hello, sweet soul!
I’m honored you’re here and thrilled to be on this journey with you.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess something about your life’s purpose…
Growing up, you might have said something like, “I want to make the world a better place. I want to help.”
How do I know this? Because my answer was the same.
Maybe you, too, have run the gamut of your contributions to what I like to call “efforts of world betterment”.
You’ve found yourself:
In and out of caring professions.
Volunteering with organizations you’re passionate about.
Doing whatever you can to assist others.
Maybe you've even tried to encourage change via a “low key” social media mic drop.
"Low key" being a well-intentioned yet passive aggressive message disguised as a call-to-action.
I see you 👀 because I've been there.
You’re doing all the “right” things to make a difference, yet the world feels more chaotic, divided, and in need of major change than ever.
And all those people you’ve done your best to “help”? They ain’t changing, and they’ve got lukewarm feelings about all this “help” you’ve been offering.
Here’s the problem…
We’re taught that change is a product of external modifications. That we can shape the world into a better place by changing what’s outside ourselves. By changing others (or “helping” them), by changing policies, even by changing presidents.
In fact, the very definition of ‘change’ is “to make (someone or something) different; alter or modify.” (New Oxford American Dictionary)
Sounds forceful, doesn’t it?
Too often, our efforts to change the world lead nowhere at best and further into divisive turmoil at worst.
This is because the change we seek doesn’t start with others, it starts with us. It’s an inside job.
We’ve each got to take radical, heart-centered responsibility for ourselves. (And stop trying to change others—seriously!)
Of course, it always seems easier when the “problem” is outside ourselves. But not one of us is a finished product. We’re always evolving, ever-changing. I mean, are you under museum glass at the Louvre? Because I’m certainly not.
Bottom line: When we outsource the problem, we also outsource the solution. This is actually wonderful news because it means that we each hold the so(u)lution to a better world.
And that’s why I’m here—to offer gentle guidance as you journey within to change, shift, and illuminate. To come alive and step into yourself. And to become your own hero.
That world-shifting, game-changing domino nudge we’ve all been waiting for? It starts with you, sweet soul.
meet ashley
Psychologist, food blogger, and published cookbook author turned insatiably curious spiritual truth seeker and explorer of consciousness on a mission to guide others in the remembrance and reverence of their own power as I remember my own. (Read: I guide from the ground, I don’t teach from a pedestal.)
That sounds so self-assured and steady, but let’s wind it back to the unpolished parts for a moment…
In my early 30s, I hit a crossroads.
I relinquished my dream job as a psychologist and leapt into entrepreneurship.
It was one of the biggest, boldest, bravest leaps I’ve ever taken.
I had zero clue if a net was there to catch me on the other side, and yet something felt so right about the decision.
I’d assumed this act of bravery was for the sake of pursuing my passion for all things food-blogging. Maybe I'd even write another cookbook?
But being self-employed spurred a major shift…
I developed a passion for writing about spirituality and self-improvement. I explored topics like the nature of reality, self-empowerment, consciousness, and awakening in every spare moment. And I began to share what I was learning with others.
Fast forward two babies and two bouts of postpartum anxiety later, I found myself floundering yet again. I’d been walking two diverging paths at the same time. One that led me deeper into the familiar land of food blogging and another that was overgrown yet called to my soul like nothing had before.
Should I stay the course on something steady despite my dwindling passion or should I leap yet again?
Overwhelmed by indecision, I made the decision to… not decide.
Unannounced, I went off the grid and waited it out.
I took a year (mostly) off social media and stopped posting completely to the food blog I’d spent over a decade building. Instead, I did whatever my soul desired.
At first this felt foreign, strange… lazy even?
Are you really going to watch all 171 episodes of Vampire Diaries on Netflix??
My mind guilted me and questioned the lack of method and productivity behind this newfound madness.
Yet, my heart encouraged me to stay the seemingly aimless (and chill) course. And the longer I stayed with it, the more the self-compassionate ramblings of my heart overtook my mind’s concerns.
I spent precious time with my baby girls, quadrupled my library of spiritual books, took a few online courses, wrote to my intuition, invested in some long-needed exposure therapy, and developed a passion for collecting crystals.
I also drank wine on weeknights, replaced routine workouts with routine naps, and favored cookies over kale most of the time.
I embraced the gray space in my life in the best of ways—reminding myself that I’m not “good” if I do this and “bad” if I do that. I’m good any which way, and I’m always enough.
After finding clarity in the calm (and in the Netflix chill), I leaned into the overgrown yet lush path my soul called me towards and said goodbye to the food blogging season of my career. I’ll miss that chapter of my life… but that just means it was a good one.
And so here I am now, pen in hand and scrolling as I go…