Welcome, my friend. Please make yourself at home.

Hello, and welcome to my blog, where I’ll share what I’ve discovered about how to fall head-over-heels in love with yourself and your life. You’ll know you’ve arrived when joy comes easily. Make yourself at home; stay awhile. I’ll be your joy midwife, holding space for you every step of the way. To start things off, I’ll share a little bit of my story and where this joy journey is heading. 

Image of Ashley and baby LJ in a daisy patch
A mother on her own joy journey, Ashley blogs to guide other mothers healing from anxiety and depression. She is pictured with her daughter LJ, the baby whose heartbeat taught her joy.

The first time I heard my unborn daughter’s heartbeat is one of the purest moments of joy I’ve ever felt. We heard it around nine weeks pregnant, sitting in a midwife’s office. The joy arrived a little later as my husband and I drove home. Sitting at a stoplight, I was suddenly elated. It’s like my spirit was expressing something about my life and my circumstances, and in that moment I was open enough to receive the message: joy. I understood that the span of time ahead of me with this arriving spirit was more right than I could ever know.

What I know for certain

The following couple of years were challenging. We moved states, bought a fixer-upper house, and my husband and I both changed jobs when our daughter was three months old. It was more than my mind and body could handle. Joy is not something I had easy access to for a good while. In fact, my emotions were as opposite as you can get. But the lack of joy and the physical symptoms indicating I needed more of it were clear. So began a journey that I am still on, and I have come far enough in to know this: 

Joy lives in you. 

You can feel your way back.

No matter your circumstances. 

Even if it’s hard to wake up and face the day. Even if going to work takes every ounce of your willpower. Even if you’re exhausted, or stressed by a relationship, or just feeling sad or alone – joy lives in you. You have access to it. You can feel your way back. 

Let’s be real

I won’t pretend you can just snap out of a low spot. That’s not how we work. But if you show up day by day, if you lean into what feels good, if you allow what your heart is asking for first –ahead of all your to-dos –you can ease yourself into a space of calm, more happiness, and with more emotional access to joyful moments. 

For me, “feeling my way back” has been as slow and methodical as the phrase sounds. This blog will be devoted to all the many pieces that it has involved. I hope I might inspire your own journey. This world has great love for you. And you have my love, too. For now, here are a few teasers about what’s to come in the months ahead:

  • You are a body. Its health and well-being are your health and well-being. Our culture tends to consider our bodies as something separate from who we are — an idea that couldn’t be more wrong. How are you caring for the body that you are? 
  • Healing into the present. We all carry hurts, limiting beliefs, and thought patterns that remove us from the beauty of the present moment. What are you ready to release? 
  • Emotional self-care and self-love. We have the power to shape and redirect our self-talk, to set boundaries with other people and ourselves, to say no, and to give ourselves permission to relax and rest. We can feel peaceful and loving towards ourselves. Where are you ready to change? 

My friend and fellow seeker, I hope you will join me for this journey towards joy. You are the reason I blog. I’ll share everything I’ve learned with the hope that you take what resonates and fall head-over-heels in love with yourself and your beautiful life. 

With so much love, your joy midwife, 

Ashley