Hello, I’m Ashley. For a long time, I tried to fight anxiety and low self-worth with perfectionism, pleasing, and proving my worth. I was extremely judgmental of myself and often others. I’ve experienced symptoms of burnout more than once in my life.

Early in my career as a veterinary pathologist, I had several strokes, which forced me to take time off from work. (Note to other stress-heads, my strokes were not simply the result of stress.) Despite my best efforts to get back to “normal,” I chose to take time to recover and reflect.

Slowly, I’m accepting myself as a flawed human being and building up enough self-worth to take accountability for my choices without collapsing (i.e. labeling myself as a “total failure”). I’ve realized that anger, blame, and grief are necessary steps in my process. The real work takes place when I’m refining my initial reaction and using it to understand my needs.

My first instinct was to turn this work into my new “job”. I’m now unlearning my habit to measure my worth by my productivity. I try to take breaks when I need it and start again when I’m recharged. This has encouraged me to learn my limits better than I ever have before. It’s amazing. It also inspired the name of this site!

I believe that most of the resources here could be helpful to a wide range of givers (helping professionals, human and animal caregivers, parents, pet owners, volunteers, etc).

I hope this site is helpful to you if you decide to use it. You are worthy of love.

~Ashley