I just read a review for the book titled 1984 by George Orwell, and I know this is going to be one of those pieces of literature that changes me as a person. In 2020, I managed to complete an exceed my expectations for my book club, but last year I skipped over the challenge entirely. Reading has always managed to be the most therapeutic thing for me as long as it’s on my terms. In college, I worked at the library an can honestly say that I NEVER checked out 1 single book leisurely during my entire 4 years on campus. Everything I read was about business or something that a professor required on the countless syllabus’s that were assigned over the years. Fast forward to 2023 and not only am I officially starting my own business, I am actually using the degree that I earned all those years ago…
Looking back, I really have to laugh because a degree was such a major accomplishment, but my ideal work situation didn’t even require it as it turns out… I am still paying on student loans like the next good American citizen, but it’s always been wild to me that as soon as you get out into the work force, all the places you think you are going to work at require you to have years of experience. When you are that young and impressionable, it’s always tough enough to battle when to party an when to study in college, but for those of us that learn multitasking at an early age… you definitely learn a lot of hard lessons on the importance of being grounded and focused.
New Years Resolutions are so funny to stick to, but I really do believe in the concept of forming, as well as breaking any habit in 21 days. The only thing I haven’t been able to stick to is getting abs, but I really have to pat myself on the back more for what I have accomplished already in life. There is no better feeling than working hard an planting a seed that grows into something beautiful an better than even you thought it could. I really appreciate the way that God works and I truly am one of the lucky ones.
Y’all know I love to disappear into the sunset an nowadays I even disappear into the moon set when life gets too crazy 🫣… but I just have to laugh things off because life really is too short yet it’s the longest things we do. The concept of writing a book really is a form of future telling, and I never thought about it that way until I read this review today. The words that you are jotting down will be here a year from now, a decade from now, but YOU reading this may see it the moment I post it, or later on at some point in what we call the future. I find that so refreshing and a tad bit ironic, because I absolutely cringe when I think back to how long it took me to finish my research paper in college. If my high school or college English teachers could see this post… I know they would cringe at my use of punctuation an constant run on sentences, just like they did when I was younger, but that is just a rule that I can’t be bothered to follow correctly. I have surpassed all expectations and managed to go more places an experience firsthand the things that they were talking about in the stories they added to all of those syllables. 🫣😂
For all the millennials that break the rules, and for all my passengers that read this blog. Thank you for being here an thank you for being patient. Not only will I be back in the friendly (or for the Coronians aka the Corona Virus Survivors & Rebels) the unfriendly skies, I will be starting my very own Travel Company and be VERY busy on my off days. Creative hobbies are so important to me and as much as I love blogging/vlogging it is a different level of giving that I want to broaden. I don’t know when I will release my book series, but I really do think that this year will be a good time to do it along with my podcasts. I love the stories that people tell me during my travels, but you all would not believe some of the things that people have told me and while I really struggled with privacy in the past, I most definitely do not now.
My social media outreach is organically growing, and as much as I disappear, I really love coming back with more content an more life experience each time. Feel free to add me on Instagram, Goodreads, Clubhouse, TikTok (which I haven’t updated in a very long time) or email TheAshleyBanks@gmail.com for any business inquiries. Also, due to the fact that I paint now, an I honestly had no idea that the fumes really pack a punch, I see that I need to take time off to do that with gloves outside 😮💨🤧😷. I don’t know when I will get around to opening my Etsy shop officially because I didn’t realize that I would be responsible for shipping everything out on my own an I am definitely not the type to keep people waiting for their products too long, but I am working on that, or finding somebody that can help me part time. The future is NOW an so is the PAST but it’s past time that my Pretty Passengers got the 2.0 version of me in 2023. I love you all an the best is yet to come!
The Ashley Banks
🛫 The Pretty Passenger 🛬 