Returning to my Writing Roots
As I continue to evolve both personally and professionally, one thing remains... I LOVE to write. So here's a little walk down memory lane about how my love of writing originated.
This feels like a homecoming to my writing roots. The thing I have loved since I first picked up a pen. I would write everything and anything... doodle my name on a page, write poems, stories, songs, journal entries. You name it.
English classes? My favorite. English teachers? Also my favorite. Maybe that’s why I became one. I can still remember the excitement of entering Mrs. Kavanaugh’s 8th grade English class to write personal essays or Mrs. Siegel’s 7th grade class for DEAR time on Fridays with guaranteed free-write time at the beginning or end of every class, even if it was only 5 minutes. Maybe that’s where my true love of writing began. She never criticized me. She only lifted me up with her encouraging comments in the margin in purple or green ink and long notes at the end of the page in my black and white composition notebook about how much she enjoyed the character development in my story.
That love of writing continued into my junior year of high school where I joined the school newspaper as a staff writer and started my own style column. I LOVED that column so much that I brought it into my freshman year of college. I think I still have one of the issues hanging around somewhere.
I was so proud of my work. Writing was a way for me to tap into my soul. To let words flow from my head and heart onto the page was exhilarating. I would spend hours on an article and pick it apart, but it was also the thing that felt most natural to me, despite my own self-criticism about my pieces.
Fast forward to my early 30’s when I started a style and travel blog and poured my heart into it for 5 years before deciding to shut it down. Biggest regret ever. RIP TDC.
And here I am, discovering there’s a new place to share my thoughts, inspiration and anything else I feel called to write about on any given day. Something I will enjoy and share without any pressure to produce. Just a space for me to be completely free.
I think I’m going to like this. And I’m not going to overthink it.
Cheers to this new chapter, pun intended. Mrs. Siegel would be proud of me.
xoxo,
Ashley