(For upcoming music performance dates, scroll to the bottom of this email!)

Last weekend I visited the Knock Knock Children’s Museum in Baton Rouge with friends who have young kids, and I enjoyed seeing life through a child’s eyes for an afternoon.

Take the joy of painting, for example.

When kids see an easel and some paints, they often run up to it and start trying it out. They’re curious about it—maybe they’ve tried it before, maybe not, but they approach it without judgement or worry. They just start plopping paint onto paper and get excited about what turns out. Sometimes they have an idea in mind of “what” they’ve just created (a bird, a plane, a big blob of blue) but sometimes they don’t. Either way, their enthusiasm is infectious and gets the nearby adults excited about the kid’s latest “masterpiece,” which later gets prominently displayed on the family fridge or wall no matter what it “looks” like.

When I’m coaching, my clients often talk about a creative desire that they’ve left unexpressed. Even “creative” people can have personal doubts and judgements stop them from picking up a paintbrush or strumming a guitar for the first time in 10 years or branching out of their busy work routine to relax through art.

They are committed to stories like “I’m bad at that” or “I don’t have time to do something fun” or “No one will appreciate my work so there’s no point.”

But there’s always a point—do it for YOU.

As adults, it’s easy for our actions to get shut down by all the judgements in their own head.

The good news is that we can learn to have much more control over these judgmental thoughts and self doubt. We can work to reduce their power over us so that we can express ourselves in more impactful and fun ways. As a result, we can start making progress toward goals we’ve only dreamed about for years.

If you’d like help with this, let me know. I have several individual spots open (beginning this month) for charisma and mental fitness coaching clients. These are high-achieving women who want to release self-doubt, reduce stress and start speaking up for what they really want in life. If that sounds like you, let's chat and see if we'd be a good fit to work together.

In the meantime, enjoy this colorful masterpiece!

With gratitude,

Ashley

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IN MUSIC NEWS...

The past two months have been a bit of a whirlwind. We've been settling into our new home (finally closed on our house and moved in!), and I've been meeting musicians/sitting in at some really cool venues throughout southeast Louisiana:

• The Spotted Cat & Three Muses on Frenchman Street - New Orleans
• Madame Vic's - New Orleans
• Buffa's - New Orleans
• Preservation Hall - French Quarter
• Fritzel's European Jazz Club - French Quarter
• Bourbon O - French Quarter
• 21st Amendment - French Quarter
• Mo's Chalet for the New Orleans Jazz Club - Metarie
• Hideaway on Lee - Lafayette
• Mariner's Inn & One Thirteen Restaurant - Hammond

Here's a recent video taken at Hideaway on Lee in Lafayette, LA, last Thursday night. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a few trad jazz tunes with Ben Redwine on clarinet and Chas Justus on guitar!

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I'd love to see you at my upcoming public performances!

• Fall 2022 - In addition to sitting in with various bands in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and the Northshore, I'm cooking up some Louisiana performance opportunities for this fall. Stay tuned!
• Dec 14 - Opening for Joe Burlison's Uptown Jazz Band CHRISTMAS SHOW! - Dosey Doe Big Barn, The Woodlands, TX - Time TBA

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