Expressing Gratitude – Ongoing

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I’ve recently started reading a new book📚 , it’s brought to light some things that I can to do work on my positivity outlook on life and myself.


It sounds so simple. Expressing gratitude, I should have so much to be grateful for, right?


This will be an ongoing list of the things that I am grateful for in my life. Some things may sound so silly, but I am trying to find or figure out those things in life that make me smile or the person that I am.

  1. My favorite cozy/soft blanket
  2. My fur-babies, Draco and Bellatrix
  3. My friendship with my little sister
  4. My family
  5. Wanting to work on myself to and do better
  6. New books to read
  7. Self-care days
  8. Good music (edits added 10/12/2020)
  9. Coffee in the morning
  10. Morning meditation
  11. Relaxing weekends at home
  12. New organization methods implemented (edits added 10/19/2020)
  13. Cleaning out the closet, donating old clothes
  14. early evenings in bed with a good Netflix binge
  15. venting to my journal instead of my people 😀😂
  16. Older sister advice
  17. A good glass of Moscato (edits added 10/29/2020)
  18. Tingly face masks
  19. New friends that can help you grow professionally
  20. Hempz lotion, especially as the weather makes everything dry
  21. New holiday candles
  22. Having social media detox days (edits added 12/10/2020)
  23. Decorating the Christmas tree
  24. Vent sessions with my little sister (2020 man, lol)
  25. Book recommendations from friends
  26. Friends that are there for you no matter what or no matter how long it’s been since you last spoke to each other
  27. Alone time
  28. Smoothies (sometimes the only thing I can eat/drink because of gastroparesis)
  29. TikTok (I know I’m considered old TikTok, and let’s be clear, I don’t make any, but watching others post are just hilarious).

To be continued…

📚Book suggestion from above: Buy Yourself The F*cking Lilies by Tara Schuster.

The journey to a better me.

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I recently decided that I need to get back to the creative outlets in my life that I used to enjoy before I feel like I lost myself at school. It was a new year resolution that I made. I wanted to get back into writing, reading, drawing, photography, and all of the creative things that let me have a voice without actually speaking things into existence. However, in true Ashley fashion, I didn’t get started on these resolutions until May. Here I am writing my first post, trying to find the direction for my new blog/writing project/outlet.

This blog will be more than just writing and entries, I want to showcase my photography and drawings (once I get that far). I like things organized and done the right way, so I really should be focusing on a “topic” but that’s not really the way my mind works. I’m not always bright and shiny, so my blog will be the same way. I want to be real. I need to open up and find ways to get out of my head. In the words of the greatest ever, ” Don’t keep it all in your head, The only place that you know nobody ever can see, ” Mac Miller (RIP).

I have so many ideas on what to write about but I keep drawing blanks as I get started and stare at the white screen in front of me. Will people care what I have to say? But then it comes to me, that it really shouldn’t matter what they think. This is for me. It’s a journey to a new me, a journey of finding my true self again. Falling back in love with myself and finding the joy in the things that have brought me comfort in the past.

-Ashley Lauren