Ashly Perez - Read This for Inspiration: Simple Sparks to Ignite Your Life

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank all the people who have believed in me, been my friend, and stuck around to make me a better person.

First and foremost, thank you to my parents, Cookie and Aaron Perez. I have only just begun to understand the sacrifices you have both made in your own lives for the sake of Miggs and me. Thank you for your bravery in leaving your homelands without knowing what the future held. You have taught Miggs and me to be fearless in the pursuit of our dreams and our happiness. Thank you for always encouraging us to do what we love over what is practical. You alone have allowed us both the freedom to be artists. Thank you for loving me just as I am, for allowing me to come out and continue to feel the depths of love and belonging in our family. It is this deep sense of place that continues to ground me in all my pursuits.

Mom, maman, thank you for always believing in me and truly being my number one fan. Thank you for continuing to be sure that one day Oprah will read my writing and for never letting me doubt that for one second. Thank you for teaching me that kindness is the best gift any of us has to offer by practicing it yourself.

Dad, poppa, can you hear me? Thank you for being my first teacher and forever sparring partner. Im sorry that Im so stubborn, but I can say without a doubt, I got that from you. Thank you for never letting me forget that family is the most important thing and that I will always have a home with you, and mom, and Miggs.

Miggs, sibling o mine, thank you for staying with me from the very beginning. Despite being the younger sibling, you have always been my defender, remaining fiercely loyal to my cause. On the other hand, you have also been one of the only people to consistently poke fun at me my whole life, keeping me from getting too big for my britches, which is an equally important job. Thank you for that. I love you, and I will always be proud of you.

To the rest of my gigantic and beautiful family, I am grateful for every moment of encouragement you have shared. You have always been my biggest supporters, and I will always be yours. I will now name all of you, showing everyone exactly how many people have known my GPA, my job title, and my salary for my entire life.

Thank you y gracias to: Ta Becca, To David, Tita, Ta Esther, To Sergio, Ivan, Andoni, Pastor Sanguesa, Montserrat, Ta Ely, To Josue, Tata, Eliezer, Adis, Tita Arlene, Uncle Ernie, Erin, Elle, Dave, Chris, Tita Lou, Uncle Ato, Missy, Mandi, Derek, Daniel, Luke, Emilie, Austin, Tita Deng, Uncle Jim, Trisha (my first best friend and F.M.O.H.), Jonathan, Judah, Steve, Phillip, Tita Baba, Uncle Cory, Josh, Brad, and Rachel.

To the matriarchs and patriarchs of my family, my grandparents, abuelos, and lolos: Raquel and Albert Santiago and Eladia and Rafael Perez. Thank you to each of you for instilling in all of your children and grandchildren that family is the most important thing. I will never feel lost in this world, because you all have given me a foundation that is unshakable. I miss and love each of you. Gracias por todo. Salamat po.

To my own small family: my bean, Chantel Houston, and my son, who, yes, is technically a cat, James. Thank you for loving me these past four years and teaching me to love myself. Before you, I wasnt sure that anyone would ever love me like people do in the movies. You make me laugh more than anyone I know. You are my calm. You sense every small emotion on my face, and you know just what I need when it seems like the world is falling apart. Thank you for your patience during my growth. I hope I can continue to give you one small sliver of the hope youve given me. This ones my favorite. It says celebrate. And to Jamey Boy, no, I dont have any extra tuna sticks for you, buddy. Ask Judy for more.

To my absolute best friends for life: Catherine, Laurence, and Madisen. My CLAM. I really dont even know when or where to begin to thank you. Thank you for seeing me through every phrase of my life, from eighteen to now. Thank you for a lifetime of memories wrapped into twelve short years. Thank you for the group chats, road trips, Glee nights, long talks, movie marathons, and actual marathons (well, half-marathons) that weve endured all these years. Im never as complete as when Im with the three of you, lying on a blow-up mattress, watching TV for twelve to eighteen hours, cracking the dumbest jokes.

Thank you to Quinta Brunson, Kate Peterman, KT, Madame Langford, Nora Ephron, Lucille Ball, Oprah, and everyone else who inspired a story in this book. Your lessons for and impact on my life will not soon be forgotten.

Thank you to my therapist, Negar. You have given me the gift of knowing myself in my adulthood and laying to rest the traumas of the past.

Professionally, there are so many people who made this book both possible and good enough to read. Thank you to Carolyn Moneta, for believing in me all of those years ago. You continue to inspire me and make me laugh by being the lovable badass that you are. You have undoubtedly changed my life. Thank you to Eve Attermann, for always taking my calls and crazy pitches, and for helping me clarify my voice. You shepherded this book and brought it to life. Thank you to Katy Nishimoto, for encouraging me to write a book in the first place. Thank you to Sam Birmingham, for being an absolute rock star behind the scenes of this project. Thank you Luke Dillon and Greg Walter, for going with my flow and listening to all my ideas. Thank you to Travis Dunlap and Ryan Pastorek, for all your hard work and dedication. We really are a team, and I couldnt do it without each and every one of you.

Thank you to all of the amazing illustrators, Marisol Ortega, Sarah Walsh, Jen B. Peters, and Olivia Herrick, for bringing my words to life. You are each supremely talented women, and Im honored that my words get to live next to your art.

Thank you to the entire Clarkson Potter team. Thank you to Danielle Deschenes for your patience and vision throughout this entire process. You saw in my mind, and you made it real. Thank you to my copy editors, Terry Deal and Amelia Iuvino. Thank you to production director Derek Gullino for coordinating all the moving pieces and giving me all those blank dummies, which are my new favorite journals. Thanks to my amazing PR and marketing team, Felix Cruz, David Hawk, Windy Dorresteyn, and Brianne Sperber, who kept me poised and polished the whole way through! Thank you to Gabbie Van Tassel for always finding me the answers I needed. And finally, thank you to my meticulous editor, Amanda Englander: I am forever indebted to you for making me a better writer. Thank you for poring over each dash, dot, and comma with care. Thank you for fighting to buy this book all those years ago. You made my biggest dream come true.

And thanks to you, dear reader. Thank you for picking up my book and enjoying it enough to read to the end of the acknowledgments. Books have always been magical to me, and I will always be grateful that you found mine.

xx,

ASH

appendix

adventure

be bold

body image

connection

creativity

do good

dont stress

family

food

gratitude

grief

growth

hope

money

motivation

nature

new perspectives

pioneers

relationships

relaxation

science

self-care

self-improvement

words

work

you do you

gratitude / do good

WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE

The Christmas movie Its a Wonderful Life follows a banker named George Bailey, who finds no value in his life until he sees what the world would have been had he never been born. I love this movieas many others doand the thing I think about most from it is not any scene in particular. I think of a tiny prop on the set of Baileys bank: a framed sign that reads ALL YOU CAN TAKE WITH YOU IS THAT WHICH YOUVE GIVEN AWAY .