What's in a Name?

There are so many names that I go by. It's hard to keep them straight sometimes.

Given name: Ashley (Preferred)
Name Meaning: Ash Tree Clearing
Little kids pronunciation: Ashalee
High school: abaugh
Pool names: Baja, Slashley
Indian: Ashes in the Wind

Common nickname everyone thinks is okay to use: Ash *shudders* ugh. I hate it when people shorten my name to THAT.

There have also been other various nicknames. I stumbled upon another nickname that fits my last name. It's pronounced like the country Bali. ---> Baughley. RIGHT?!

Smooth topic change.

A change in domain name is nothing trivial. But the old name just didn't fit me anymore. (ashleysmywitness) When I first started this blog, I based it off of this quote from the movie "Shall We Dance".

We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet. I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things...all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying, "Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness.

At that point in my life, I was about to leave for college. I was really close to this boy that was a huge part of my life. This boy was someone that struggled with self esteem and really needed someone around. Someone that could help pick him up when he was down. And that person, was me. (HA!)

I just KNEW that my blog would make the difference in someone's life. That I would write the right thing at the right time, and it would make all the difference in the world.

Fortunately, this did not happen. With that guy, or anyone else.

What kind of self-righteous person would think that writing a blog, ABOUT THEMSELVES, could do anything to help anyone. Bah.

I thought I could make a difference for others with my crazy writing. I thought I could be the person who could be a witness for others.

I was 18. I still thought everyone had buckets of good inside them. I thought all everyone needed was one person to make a difference in their lives. I now know better.

But that doesn't change my opinion. I still think that everyone needs a witness to their lives. But I think that comes more from a spouse or a family member.

The world is full of good. I will be a witness to people in their lives. Just not in the way that I first thought.

I have written about whatever the crap I want to in the past. I will continue. And hopefully, maybe, someone will get a smile, laugh, or take something away from whatever I may write

So here it is. This is me.

Just Me.

.ashley.