When We Meet Again

Dear Ashley 2014,

It has been twelve years, and I do not think either of us realized how much a life could change in that amount of time. If we sat down together over a cup of coffee today, we would probably laugh first, tell stories, and marvel at the turns neither of us could have predicted. I imagine we would both be surprised by the distance between the life you were building and the one I am living now, even as we recognized the same woman moving through both.

I would recognize you immediately in your curiosity, your confidence, the way you came alive while solving complicated problems, and the joy you found in bringing people together around something meaningful. You moved through the world with a beautiful certainty. Your gifts had a place to land, and you offered them generously. Each morning carried a clear sense of purpose, and you knew where your attention belonged, what was expected of you, and how to recognize a day well spent.

I have been thinking about that certainty because the landscape has changed so completely. The roles shaping my days are different now. Some have grown quieter, while others appeared so gently that I almost missed their arrival. I spend more time listening, following questions, and noticing the conversations that stay with me. I pay close attention to the places where my spirit comes alive and the quiet moments when another person begins to recognize something true about themselves.

You would probably be surprised by the work I do now, although I think you would recognize its heart. The curiosity that once helped you solve complicated business problems now guides me through conversations with buyers and sellers, breathwork participants, people I love, and readers I may never meet. The instinct that drew you toward leadership and connection now helps me create spaces where people can breathe, reflect, heal, and remember themselves. The gifts have continued growing, finding new places to belong as my life has unfolded.

For many years, I imagined the next chapter arriving with the same clarity you knew so well. I pictured another recognizable role, another dependable structure, and another place where each strength would make immediate sense. This season has introduced itself through smaller invitations: write this, follow that question, help this person, create this gathering, pay attention to the idea that keeps returning. Each invitation has asked for trust before certainty and presence before proof.

I am learning to receive those invitations while their meaning is still unfolding. I am learning to receive support, rest, affection, possibility, and the value of work whose roots are still growing beneath the surface. I am learning to welcome the woman I have become, carrying familiar gifts into forms that continue revealing themselves. Abundance has begun to feel like availability: a willingness to hear life speaking quietly and to make room for what is ready to emerge.

Twelve years ago, you could not have imagined the homes we would help people find, the women we would sit beside, the rooms we would fill with breath, tears, laughter, and hope, or the stories we would eventually write. You could not have imagined how often life would ask us to begin again. Still, the qualities that made those beginnings possible were already alive in you. Your curiosity, generosity, discipline, courage, and delight in helping people feel seen have traveled with us through every change.

I think that is what this return of Jupiter to Leo means to me: a chance to look across one complete cycle and recognize what has remained true. The outer expression of my life has changed, while the deepest parts of me have continued asking for fuller expression. I can see now that becoming has carried those parts forward, allowing them to mature, soften, and find new forms.

Thank you for carrying us through the years you were given. Thank you for building with such devotion, for working so hard, and for offering your gifts so generously. I carry all of that with me now as I stand in the space between what was and what is still becoming. I have a feeling you would recognize this life more quickly than either of us expects.

I will meet you here, with open hands.

With love,
Ashley 2026

A Gentle Invitation

As you reflect on the seasons that have shaped your life, what qualities have remained true about you through all of them?