Making It Welcome

Hey friends —

There’s so much about life we mysteriously don’t control. Take your breath, for instance. You didn’t schedule it this morning, didn’t set an alarm to remind your lungs to rise and fall. And yet — here it is. Even in your sleep, it shows up, faithful and quiet. The same with your heartbeat — pulsing in your chest without permission or effort, ushering you into another moment of being alive.

And while we can’t make the breath or the heart beat, we can create the conditions where the beautiful things of life are likely to arrive — peace, joy, love, meaningful work, serendipitous connection.

I call this making it welcome.

We can’t force butterflies to land in our hands. We can, however, tend the kind of garden they’d love to visit — one alive with color, nectar, and openness. In the same way, we can prepare the soil for peace, gratitude, and creativity to find us. It’s the difference between chasing and allowing. Between striving to make it happen and slowing down enough to make it welcome.

So if life feels tight or forced right now, maybe loosen your grip. Breathe deep. Light a candle. Clean the kitchen. Go for a walk. Create the inner and outer conditions for goodness to find you. Because what we truly belong to — love, joy, abundance — doesn’t arrive by force. It lands softly where it’s been made welcome.

We can spend our days running around with a net, trying to catch what we’re after — which is exhausting and not sustainable. Or we can plant something interesting, something packed with possibility, and watch as something beautiful decides to come visit.

Here’s to less striving and more inviting.

— Ashton