Meet Ben | Part I
Ben Ashby
I have a theory about life…
The key to a good life is surrounding yourself with good people, good food, and good experiences. Perhaps I’ve watched Oprah one too many times, but I truly believe our ultimate legacy in this world is surrounded by the energy we put into this world. I believe at the end of the day we are all in this life together. We are only on this planet for a moment, and while we are here we share it with countless people. Many of these people we will never meet, but every decision they make, and every decision you make will touch each of us. It is our decision if that touch is positive or negative. It is my goal to live a life of positive energy and good aesthetics.
I’ve sure learned a lot in the last five years, each and ever lesson has been a hard one, but lessons that I feel are necessary to fully understanding our place and our voice in this world. I believe if we never experience problems and struggles we will never truly appreciate the good times, the good experiences, and the good people. It takes wading through the muck, crying until you don’t know how to stop, and getting way in over your head to learn much of anything. Experience, failure, triumph, and blind courage are the true tools to developing a whole life and the keys to understanding the value of positive energy. I’ve found that opening oneself to life and to fear is basically the only way to overcome those fears and weaknesses. After six years of hard fought lessons and journeys my biggest challenge is opening up and regaining my own voice—but here we are, its too late to turn back, the positive energy is building and the best time to start a new journey is now.
Each day this week I will be sharing sharing a bit about me, my desire to create this business, our journey, and our goals for the future. As you may have noticed a bit has changed around here since we started in 2011. What simply started as a magazine has grown into a diverse brand that soon will cross many mediums and platforms, but first our website will grow.
I reckon the best place to start is by introducing myself.
I am Ben Ashby. I am a Kentucky kid that grew up on a very old farm outside of a tiny town of 300 people in western Kentucky. My family came to the United States back in the 1600’s and we’ve only moved once since then. I’m an only child of an only child, and was around people that died long ago. I was basically destined to group up an old soul. I grew up on the farm and in the local little white church. Back then I didn’t particularly realize I was being raised differently than others. I simply thought everyone was raised in the gardens, and the fields, and in the kitchens, and barns. I learned the various varieties of sweet corn well before I ever learned to tie my shoes. Growing up there on the farm I was surrounded by history and I learned to have a deep respect for knowing your roots, knowing your community, and being an active part of that community. Whether it was knowing how to serve pie at the American Legion’s annual horse show, how to properly put out the potluck for a funeral dinner, or how to clean a fish I was there and I was eager to learn. I never realized that all the lesson’s I learned would ever come in handy, but I’m sure glad they did, and I’m sure glad I get to share them with you.
More tomorrow.
