The Ash Collectives

At what point did I start caring so much? What happened to the blissfulness of living without worrying about my image? When did I let my peers,’ opinions outweigh my own? Why is it that I seek outward validation instead of looking inward? A plethora of questions like these have been circling my mind in recent months. I know we are no strangers to thoughts like these, ideas that quietly plague us when we become too aware of how we are perceived. It is human nature to want connection and to want to be liked, and there is nothing inherently wrong with that level of self-awareness. However, when that desire begins to compromise individuality, it becomes something worth questioning. I could sit here and write endlessly about how I lost my individuality or how I lacked the confidence to fully stand in who I was. But the past is the past. I can replay old decisions and regret them all I want, but that does not change where I am now. What does matter is recognizing the pattern and choosing t...

    Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Halloween. It always has and always will be my favorite holiday and time of year. I love costumes and dressing up and coming up with ideas of who I want to be and how it should look. It is all very fun and fulfilling to me that I can never get enough of it.  I think there is something so exciting about planning out a costume and trying to make it as accurate as I can. My only toxic trait about costumes is I will do my best to be as exact to the character or design as I can. Some may call me extra, others will call me crazy, but I call myself brilliant and innovative. And honestly, I always have so much fun with it so who's to stop me.      Last year on a whim I decided I would dress up the week leading up to Halloween. It was a way to get me in the spirit of the season and have fun with my outfits. Every day I would choose a simple theme and create a look around that. At the time, I was working a warehouse ...

     Hello to anyone who has the pleasure/displeasure of stumbling upon this blog. I am completely new to this so please bear with me as I learn how to use this platform properly. I decided to create this blog as a way to share things about my life that people typically don't get to see. A few months ago, I decided to delete and deactivate every single one of my social media accounts. I realized it was causing me more harm than good, and I came to the conclusion that I'd be better off without it. I now have been living happily and comfortably these past couple of months free from it all, and I couldn't be more grateful for that.      I'm creating this blog to have a space where I can post and share things that happen in my life to keep people in the loop. One of the blessings with social media is it's a great way to see what people are up to. And now that I no longer have that, it's become hard to share things with each and every one of my friends and famil...