Welcome
I’m so happy that you found my site. Dreaming Upwards is a home for everything related to storytelling, dreams, and language. It’s a place for the personal and literary journeys to meet, as they so often do. Here’s what started everything…
My Story
My name is Ashley. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a book in my hand and several more in the queue. I loved escaping into lush and distant worlds, studying how the author used language to paint an image of humanity, and creating my own stories.
I also fell in love with the idea of storytelling in general–not just in reading, but through the humanities, and the way that we communicate through various mediums like art, music, architecture, and more.
My Hero's Journey
As I ventured into the professional world, I brought this desire to share the power of language with me. My background is diverse, having worked in conflict resolution, writing and editing, education, English teaching (in the US and abroad), the humanities, and more. The common thread is my love of all things literature and language.
And then it came time for me to find myself in my own distant world: Italy. Before long, my story became one of language learning, a cross-cultural love story, immigration, and returning to the things that made me me. That’s when Dreaming Upwards entered once more.
Once Upon a Time…
I dreamed of creating a website to share my love of all things literature and help people in the process. At first, this manifested itself as a website geared more toward helping students figure out how to navigate college and growing older. As an educator, ensuring that students have all of the resources available to them for a successful educational and personal journey was incredibly important to me. I wanted to make life a little easier for them during that transition.
As time went on, however, I realized that that version of the website no longer reflected my entire journey, or what I wanted to share with the world. I started another website purely focused on literature and language learning, but that still didn’t encompass all of what I wanted to share. After reflecting, I realized what the missing connection was: storytelling.
And Then...
Dreaming Upwards expanded and evolved. Everything related to college success will still be here, but my focus has shifted. Now, this space is a blend of my creative work and love for words. You’ll find:
- Book reviews and reflections
- Analyses and resources for literature and writing
- Insights into culture, the humanities, and language
- Personal reflections and creative work
- Anything and everything related to words
Whether you’re a student, educator, or someone else who loves stories like I do, there’s something here for you. I can’t wait to start our journey together!
Why Dreaming Upwards?
I chose this name because it’s what we all want: to achieve, to progress, to realize those sometimes secret hopes. As creatives, we feel these dreams deeply, and our journey is rarely straightforward or easy. Yet we continue on, looking to the past and present to write our own stories. This space is dedicated to the exploration of what that means and how to get there, messy and chaotic as it may be.