It’s official: we’re embarking upon Dreaming Upwards’ new chapter! Starting this summer, we’ll take a journey into health, happiness, and wellbeing informed by research studies and cultural practices that are conducive to success.
In the last few months, I’ve taken a break from writing here. I worked on one of my other passion projects (helping people to learn English and spreading a love and literature; you can check it out here at Not Your English Class or my Instagram @english_by_ashley) and worked on my novel. Furthermore, I dealt with life, trying to take things one step at a time amidst a whirlwind of changes.
During this pause, I reflected. What did I want for life? For this website? For my career? Was it time for a new chapter?
Everything had started to feel like one giant to-do list, and it got harder and harder to look at the positives in life. No matter where I looked, it felt like there was only bad news. From Gen Z not being able to afford houses to a cooling job market to the various crises and wars in the world right now, it felt like there were more problems than answers. Every time I saw a headline or reel, I felt more panicked than when I’d initially picked up my phone or walked into the living room.
If I’m being honest, I also felt angry at the world my generation had been handed. I felt disheartened that we didn’t necessarily have the same things to look forward to that our parents did. And I felt anxious about all the uncertainty. Naturally, this is a part of life for every generation as they come of age. However, that doesn’t make it easier, especially with the conditions our generation is facing. Yet sitting there and being pissed off and miserable wasn’t going to solve anything, nor was dwelling in the stress. So I started thinking about how I could pivot to contribute to a solution.
I started this website to help people. Just like in my teaching career, I wanted to make things a little bit better for the people coming after me. At a certain point, however, I started feeling like my focus had changed. While helping university students is absolutely still a goal of mine, I want to shift to a holistic view of wellbeing and success. No matter which statistics you look at, Gen Z is struggling with their wellbeing far more than their predecessors. I want to find and share solutions.
With that being said, Dreaming Upwards, like all of us, will evolve. It will focus a little less on college and career advice and a little more on how all of us can lead better lives. My goal is to examine cross-cultural research to find solutions for all of us. Hopefully, bit by bit, we can work together to make the world a better place for our generation and those who come after us.
So enjoy, and I hope you find this new chapter as interesting as I am!
