Ashley Loren

Trust the Cocoon: When Your Next Chapter Is Still Taking Shape

The In-Between: The Goo Before the Wings Did you know that when a caterpillar enters a cocoon, its body turns into a kind of organic soup? That ten-dollar word—metamorphosis—so often used to describe the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is as profound as it sounds. The molecules that once formed the crawling creature completely disassemble

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Adorable figurines of a boy and girl sit on a bench, bathed in summer sunlight.

The Ache for Approval: How My Past Shaped My Partnerships

Chasing Approval: The Pattern That Kept Me Running The ways we attach, connect, and navigate intimacy, especially in our romantic lives, are often shaped by the core wounds of our formative years. Wounding happens within relationships, and so does healing.  Healing is not a solitary process. Without realizing it, we replay old patterns, unconsciously yearning

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A loving couple embracing on a secluded forest pathway surrounded by lush greenery.

The Unexpected Key to True Love (That No One Talks About)

I’ve been asked, more than once, in the last few months, what I’m looking for in a partner.  Not only have I had trouble answering that question directly, but I’ve also felt a deep resistance to answering.  Just under the surface of that avoidance is my long held belief that the perfect partner doesn’t exist

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Two hands with 'Yes' and 'No' on palms depicting choice and decision making.

The Breaking Point: When Avoidance Becomes Agony

I Knew, But I Stayed—Until I Reached My Breaking Point: I have come to realize that the hardest part of the huge changes I made in my life was never the change itself or even the messy aftermath.  The time I spent wallowing in indecision and self-doubt, the metaphorical darkness before the dawn, was far

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The Lie of Being Good Enough: How Releasing External Validation Brought Me the Love I Craved

A story of hypervigilance: From the moment we’re born, we begin attuning to the nuances of our caregivers—their body language, attentions, and subtle shifts in energy. This is how we learn to navigate the world and find our place in it. Even before we can form words, our developing brains are hard at work, experimenting

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