Forging a New Identity with Dr. Ashley Wellman

You are not your job. You are not your roles: child, parent, spouse, friend. You are not your accomplishments. You are so much more than these identities. You can rediscover your true self through what you experience. Listen to this episode to hear how Ashley discovered parts of herself after the heartbreak and trauma of losing her husband.  

Ashley is an author, speaker, and scholar. After the sudden death of her husband in 2018, she became a young widow and a single mother. She is a professor of criminal justice and has recently stepped out as an indie author with the release of her new children’s book The Girl Who Dances With Skeletons: My Friend Fresno.

Quotes to remember: 

“I literally, trauma after trauma, started knocking those labels off. They didn’t exist anymore.” 

“You’re more compassionate and you are braver and you are kinder because you’ve hurt and your heart has hurt.”

“There’s a bigger story written than I can see, and I’m just trying to walk it.”

Takeaways:

Your old life will never come back after a life-changing experienceFear of success is as real as fear of failureYou can use your trauma to define your purposeGive yourself permission to let your story unfold in a new way; you are more than any single identityIs there a way to say “thank you” after a door has slammed in your face?Just because the ending was unwanted doesn’t mean that the story wasn’t beautifulYou don’t need to put off celebration and joy; what if joy looks different from what we thought it would be?

What you’ll learn:

How Ashley lost her husband and best friend, thinking bad things only happen to other peopleHer process of rediscovering her own creativity in the grief Why Ashley transitioned her joy of writing into a book seriesHow to be there with someone who is grievingHow she transitioned into a new way of being after her old identities fell awayHow Ashley came full circle with her grief, trauma, and heartbreak to be grateful for what has happenedAbout her relationship with a higher power

Mentioned on the podcast: 

https://www.ashleywellman.com/index.htmlhttp://myfriendfresno.com/Lauren Daigle