Ashley Williamson Piperandpoppies

Inspiring Mother Ashley: @piperandpoppies

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Ashley Williamson Piperandpoppies

My blog has been a long time in the making. I spent many hours thinking and dreaming about all the things I could do with it, all the topics I would love to write about and projects I would love to use it for. One thing I knew I wanted to do from the beginning was to share the stories of people who have inspired me. Generally, these are people who live close to nature and connected to family, they are artistic and creative, loving and adventurous.

Today, I would like to introduce you to Ashley, who I follow on Instagram as @piperandpoppies. Ashley takes beautiful photos of her life in Australia with her two gorgeous girls. But, her gallery is about more than surface beauty. Rather, she captures a much deeper beauty: the beauty of living connected to family and place. I had a chance to ask Ashley a few questions about her way of life, and was delighted to find that my intuition about Ashley was spot on; she is a kind, caring and thoughtful person. I hope you enjoy getting to know her a little more, as I did.

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What part of the world do you live in?

I live in Western Australia in a little seaside town. It has a massive tourist trade but the locals are mostly nature loving, surfing, and happy souls. It is a community of love and connection. We are so lucky to have ended up raising our family here. I grew up in Canada and travel brought me here. I do miss my family and the distinct seasons of home but I have planted myself here and am learning to embrace this as my home. My girls are small town kids and I love watching them play outside and explore all that a tiny forest and seaside town has to offer.

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How many children do you have and how would you describe them?

I have been blessed with two beautiful girls. Piper is 4 and Poppy is 1. Piper is an old soul. She is gentle and caring but shy and fiercely overwhelmed by strangers and attention. Poppy is a wild child! She is so much fun, a character that loves to make us (and anyone she comes across) laugh.

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What are your core family values?

Love and empathy. I want my girls to know how to care for others and themselves. How to accept people and themselves and the power of love. I am also a firm believer in providing a foundation for children to harbour their creativity and imagination. I know the joy I get from daydreaming and being creative and want to help my girls discover their gifts. We try to provide calm and compassionate parenting for our girls. To use peaceful approaches to problem solving and model this in our behaviour towards each other.

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How do you spend most of your days?

I am a primary school teacher part time. I am a mother full time. My role of mama is my prized role, I didn’t always want to be a mom, but am so blessed motherhood found me. I spend my time playing with my girls, teaching them about the world and experiencing life by their side. I am learning through them to slow down and savour the little things. Childhood is magic and as mothers we actually have the opportunity to do it again! We spend a lot of time exploring and playing together.

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What is your favourite thing to do as a family?

An ideal day would start at home, as the sun rises, with hot coffee and the girls playing. Then a trip to the beach and bush walking. Lazy lunch at home, a family nap, painting/drawing/gardening and a laid back dinner outside. Sitting under the stars with a wine. I am a homebody but also love being in nature. I usually do this with my little companions and no one else. They are the perfect explorers.

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What are you passionate about?

The environment and education. As a teacher I have the opportunity to engage children in our world and teach sustainability and ethical choices. They are clever and adopt things much more easily than grown ups. I love art, making things, creating. This past year I have started taking my photography more seriously. I love seeing life through a lens and capturing moments.

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What inspires you?

Clouds, the ocean, flowers, people, places, things…I am inspired by everything really. Everything and everyone we encounter has something to give. Truly.

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Thank you for sharing your words, photos and way of life Ashley.

Please visit Ashley’s Instagram gallery, there’s much more to discover. And I hope you have enjoyed this first feature, I will try to post one every week.

You might also like my post:

The Slow Living Project

Inhaling the Season, Inhaling the Moment

13 Ways to Simplify your Wardrobe

Thoughtful Gift Guide for Children’s Gifts, Any Occasion

Let’s be friends! Please come find me in other places:

On doing things imperfectly

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Danielle Chassin Hippie in Disguise
Quality is important, but seeking perfection can lead to paralysis. At least it can for me. I have wanted to start a blog for a long time, but the perfectionist in me prevented me from actually doing it. It had to be perfect, if I were to do it at all.

Perfection can also paralyze people from pursuing change. That is, some people won’t try something if they can’t do it purely or perfectly. Myself included. I’ve heard this excuse many times in response to people telling me why they couldn’t be vegan. “I would totally  go vegan, but I just love cheese/sushi/lattes.” To which I usually respond, “Well, why not be a vegan who eats sushi?” It might not be purist or perfect veganism, but it is a lot closer than not trying at all. I encourage others to find comfort in imperfection, that is, to permit themselves to do things imperfectly. (After all, there are very few things anyone can do perfectly, all of the time or ever.) And yet, I rarely afford myself this same latitude.

And so…after many rational, and many more irrational reasons, for delaying the launch of my blog — yes, mostly related to getting it perfect — I am going ahead now, knowing it will never be perfect and that is perfectly  fine.

For the past two years, I have shared bits and pieces of our family life through my Instagram account @hippieindisguise, and while I think Instagram is an excellent social media platform, I have often wanted more space to write and provide greater detail on our activities, based on requests from my kind and curious friends and followers. On this site I will document the moments I share with my children adventuring around our city to rivers, fields, parks, and pools, visiting galleries and museums, seeking out public and street art, crafting with natural materials, drawing, painting, and cooking — the everyday moments that make up a childhood and connect our family.

I will also share interviews with people who have inspired me as parents, as artists, as entrepreneurs, as people. I think it is really important to honour our inspirations. I want to create a space where I give people credit for the good they put out into the world. Stay tuned, I will post my first interview later this week!

Finally, while I am pursuing a minimalist lifestyle, paring down my possessions to the essential, I will from time to time share products here that I believe are worth choosing, if you are in need, because they are organic, fair trade, or handmade, for example.

So, that’s the plan, it’s not perfect, but I’m okay with that.

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Let’s be friends! Please come find me in other places:

Have you subscribed to the Global Guardian Project yet? These are monthly learning capsules for children and families to learn about global stewardship. Each month features a different country’s wild life, landscape and challenges, and includes art projects, activities, meditation, recipes and more! Use my discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for 10% off, you can read more about it here

…in development…

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Danielle Chassin Hippie in Disguise
Welcome! I am currently developing a blog about my adventures with my husband, Matt, and two children, Ro and Sen, pursuing a minimalist lifestyle focused on collecting moments rather than things.

I hope to have the blog live January 2015, so please subscribe or come back soon. Thank you for stopping by.

If you are interesting in collaborating with me please email me at hippieindisguise1@gmail.com. Thank you.