Kelly Ashley

Day 1 of my #The100DayProject: #The100DayFreeWrite 🙋🏽🆓✍🏽 --- Between moving📦, starting a new job, turning 30 (not yet!), and other life adventures, this is a key time for journaling 📒, self reflection 🗝 & personal growth🌱 I followed some participants of @elleluna‘s The 100 Day Project in 2015 and, as I often do, encouraged myself to take on this project some time💪🏽⌛️(as with many structured📐creative writing projects & programs) When I stumbled upon a post about the project this year - the day before it was to begin - I made myself take it as an omen to action🔮

My teacher once told me that success is not about winning or losing. It is not about being first, it is not about money, and it is not about achievement. Success actually does not depend on outcomes, on awards, or on recognition.

I asked him, "Then what is success?"

Your goal is not to change everyone. Your goal is to change someone.

Look at how you've changed people and if you're not satisfied with who you've changed or how much they've changed make better art.

"Our visions of technology and design and entertainment and creativity have to be married with visions of humanity, compassion and justice."

I was told about nine months ago that the birthday during which your date (of the month) of birth matches your age is known as your Golden Birthday.

"Really? I’m turning 28 on the 28th this year!"

Since that moment, I thought about grand celebrations including (a few of) my favorite things: international travel, music festivals, the company of loved ones, good food & drink, and new experiences.

Most of those things ended up being too expensive and/or not fitting with the rest of my plans around that time.

One of those plans was to move. After ten months apart (!!!!) A and I are living in the same place full time! Somehow we made it through what was going to be three months apart and turned into nearly a year, and after all of that time we’ve ‘fallen back into it.’

And we lucked out with a new home that has quite the rooftop view!

To top it off, I had a wonderful birthday night which included free Mexican food and drink + balloons, the singing of The Birthday Song in both English and Spanish by 8th grade students from Boulder, CO on the subway, a free birthday bourbon and dancing to some free jazz music - which gave me cheers from the crowd!

I’m a huge proponent of Birthday Week (and in this Golden case, two weeks!), and thus, the celebrations continued, mostly with us exploring our new neighborhood.