The Art of Human Connection

can you remember the last day

of your senior year of high school

maybe a recent or a distant memory in

your mind

now that you start to think about it you

might be remembering somebody

who would have been the last time you’d

ever see them again

but you used to see them every day isn’t

it funny

how people can just come in and out of

your life like that

my last day of my senior year our

teachers took the time to put

small affirmations for our last day of

our high school career

today’s last day make it one that you’ll

never forget

little did i know how much that would

start ringing so true

it would become one that i would never

forget

james was quiet gosh that poor guy

his locker was directly in front of mine

and every morning i’d greet him with

way too much enthusiasm for seven

o’clock in the morning

hey james good morning

how’s it going today twitch she’d always

laugh and say

oh ash it’s going great thank you so

much for asking

never really knew what i was doing over

the four years that james stood in front

of me every day

until that last day of our senior year

in fact be the last time i ever opened

my locker again

and i was welcomed with a note crammed

in the top slot

intrigued i took the note

opened it read it

and tears began to well in my eyes

it read ashley

really like to thank you for your years

of kindness that you extended to me

i was going to commit suicide our

sophomore year

but it was knowing that you would be

there the next day to say hello

was all that i needed to get through my

hard times

best of luck in all you do james

learn a really important lesson at 18

years old that day

connect connect with the person

in front of you it doesn’t matter if

you’re the best of friends

if you have a single thing in common

acknowledge their presence

and be present for them

once i learn the power of a hello

over the years i got to thinking how how

can i ingrain myself

to go deeper and to form authentic

relationships within my own community

we moved to breckenridge in the summer

of 2017 and our daughter was only a year

old at the time

i thought gosh got to make some friends

so i started a free workout group for

moms and their babies

and it was here that i was connected to

a woman that i’ve never had the

opportunity of connecting with

until now the mountain mama

and in case you don’t know who she is

let me tell you a little bit about her

she’s the one with a different grit

about her

she is so raw and authentic and she

isn’t shaken by the elements or the way

that her hair looks

and her heart’s complete with the

mountains

she’s the kind that can travel alone but

thrives

as a whole over the summer months we’d

have the most fun running up and down

these mountains of wrecking ridge

and zooming past tourists on main street

with our babies in our strollers

we even made it to the front page of the

summit daily

and that was so much fun she had a great

time

bringing this group of women together

solidified the need

for connection in the similarities that

we so often try to accomplish on our own

what i learned from the community level

of the mountain mamas

was the importance of time and space

because ask any mom it’s not like we

have time

we can give you a thousand excuses why

we can’t do something

but we ultimately knew that this was

important and we were present for each

other

and we showed up and we cheered each

other on every day

have you ever thought about that with

your friend group

how did you get there organic community

connections

are the heartbeat of what makes a

community thrive as a whole

how can you become a part of your

community’s heartbeat by ways of filling

the connection gaps

better yet how can you challenge

yourself

to trying something that maybe horrifies

you

and it opens your heart to connecting

with someone that can help fill that gap

in your life

though i was able to get creative with

my friend group

there was another area of my life that

was also needing me filled

and that was creativity and come to find

out it was needed in our community as

well

a space where you could ultimately

create art

and not feel like there was going to be

a grade slapped on the end of it

or feeling judged for how your project

turned out because ultimately it was

yours

so in the summer of 20 2018

the sunny setup studio was born a safe

space

for people in the community to come and

create artwork together

and my daughter and i had the most fun

finding new friendships in this space

and

one day i was getting her station ready

and i put her

paint on her plate and i saw she

instantly put her hands

in the paint and then all over her

canvas

and she looked at her hands back of the

canvas

and then over to the wall and i thought

here we go and any mom in their right

mind would be

horrified at the thought of their

two-year-old with pain-filled hands

felining to our stark white walls

but instead of being upset i became

inspired

i thought what if we all do this

what if everybody who comes to share a

piece of their heart and art with us

leaves their handprint behind to become

a part of a bigger story

so that when they leave they come back

and they find themselves still here

fast forward to today the studio’s side

is filled

floor to ceiling with hand friends from

people

of every age every ability

and every walk of life one of my

favorite handprints

is smack dab in the middle of the

ceiling

it’s a little girl from kuwait and she

painted her hand to look like the flag

of her home country i just have to stop

and think

my gosh that a little 700 square foot

art

studio on main street frisco colorado

has touched the lives from people all

over the world

simply because we have allowed a time

and space for it to happen

and i can’t help but to think that the

studio has become my heart work

and what i’ve learned on the worldwide

level

of the studio of connection is that it

starts right here

starts in our own backyard and it starts

with you

kindness love acceptance joy happiness

whatever you carry with you becomes a

ripple effect

and it touches every person that you

touch in their life

and it’ll travel through them for

wherever they end up going

and it’s through these very distinct

life experiences

that i’ve learned that i’ve been gifted

with the art of human connection and

making people feel alive

and i can’t help but to think of james

and how he’s still alive and thriving to

this day

and building into his life’s purpose

greater than he ever could have imagined

for himself

and how the mountain mamas taught me so

much about grit

that when there’s hard times in my life

i’m able to take those lessons and know

that i’m going to be able to make it

through

and that the studio has become the space

where people can find their ultimate

happiness and joy

and take it back home with them to

spread throughout their own communities

and just as my teachers did on my last

day of my senior year of high school

i’m going to leave you with your quote

on the wall

it’s one of my favorites from howard

thurman he’s so beautifully said

do not ask what the world needs ask

instead

what makes you come alive and then go

and do that

because what the world needs is people

who have come alive

[Applause]