Tag: Changes

The Music Sparkle.

Evolving

Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.3 Comments
As if I need an excuse to drink coffee…

Well, a bit like my city in my last post, I’ve been evolving too. I changed my website host to WordPress, because I love using it for my blog and decided it will be easier for me to update something I am familiar using. So my website for my music is https://dawnmaxwellmusic.com/ please check it out and let me know what you think. It’s very different to how I had built the website before and I like this new look. It has just come to mind that it ties in with one of the songs I have written and recorded ‘Fade to Grey’, perhaps that was no coincidence. I admit there isn’t much content yet on the website but I have plans for 2022 and hopefully I will be very busy updating the website with what I’m up to music wise. So exciting.

I have also changed the content to my FB music page. I love positive quotes and affirmations and I was receiving messages telling me that my daily posts, non music related, were very uplifting and gave people positive vibes in the mornings. So alongside the music, I’m continuing with the quotes, affirmations and all things sparkle because that’s just who I am. For some reason I was trying to keep the music separate and then it hit me, it is who I am so I need to just embrace it and bring it all along together. It may not fit for some people but it fits for me and if just one person gets a much needed lift or positive energy from a post then I love that. https://www.facebook.com/DawnMaxwellMusic So if you are on FB, pop over and give me a follow and join in with the positive vibes and sparkle a plenty.

Gratitude

I will take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to everyone who has supported me on my journey. The high’s, the low’s and the rock bottom. Although I encounter some very black, sad days that are hard to bear, I also encounter some very happy, make it happen, you can do this days. It’s amazing how a random comment from someone can lift you up and raise your spirits and give you confidence to believe in yourself. I am so grateful for you all and I feel blessed to have met you along our paths, online or otherwise.

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

Ramblings.

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Once again it has been a while. Far too long in fact. It has been so busy but then when isn’t it busy?!! The amount of times I’ve sat down with the intention of updating my blog, of posting the latest thoughts, happenings and general day to day of life and yet for one reason or another it just doesn’t happen.

After my “Leap of Faith” blog post about giving up the day job to care full time for my parents, things took a decidedly, let’s say “unfriendly”, “unsympathetic” turn with my manager at work and I experienced a very stressful, pressured and upsetting three weeks during May. After a fight back from me, things during my notice period have settled back and my final working day is Friday 30th June.

I have mixed feelings about this. After all, it is the end of an era for me, the end of the “day job”, the end, for now, of my career as a “City Chick” in the corporate world. Yet there is something quite liberating about this change. I thought I would feel sadness at training someone to do my role and handover tasks and I haven’t at all, I’ve enjoyed doing it. Time to hand the baton on so to speak. 

I’m enjoying looking after my parents, being “Mom”, although I’d much prefer not to be having to do this, this is where I am, I love them and I’m going to be as positive as I can about my new chapter in life with them and caring for them. Thankfully we are still at a stage where I can have a little me time to spend on my music, more studies, a little voluntary work from home and yes blogging, expect to see lots more blogging!

This particular post was supposed to be me, owning up that I had fallen back into awful unhealthy eating habits as I recovered post op and how with the hot weather this week I had redeemed myself…that one will have to wait for another day, soon…I promise, soon.

So I’ll say bye for now with a photo of my hanging basket which I am so proud of. Not known for my green finger prowess I cannot believe I managed to grow this from scratch. I might make a domestic goddess of myself yet!!

© @aurorasparkles 2017 🌟

Life Sparkles

Springtime, Changes and Renewal.

Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.3 Comments

It was a beautiful Spring day today; bright, sunny, blue skies with a chilly wind. As I have been cooped up all week since returning from hospital, I decided to take a slow stroll around the garden, I needed some fresh air. The trees and plants are coming to life again, after the long, dark Winter months, the lighter days and sunshine has renewed nature and it is beautiful.

As I walked around viewing the buds on the trees and the blooms of the snowdrops,  I found myself thinking of my health and recovery from the gallbladder removal surgery. My body is also now enjoying a renewal of sorts. It is suffering the post operative trauma right now but if I look after it, do the right things, feed it the right foods, my body will heal and be strong again, another beautiful miracle of nature and the amazing body we have been blessed with.

Just as the landscape around us changes with the seasons we too are constantly changing, our minds, our personal style, our life goals, hopes and dreams. Spring brings everything to new life, we change, we grow, we heal, just as the flowers around us reach for the sunshine and brighter days, we too reach for the beauty of life.


I didn’t know I had any of these little beauties in the garden.


There is always something of beauty to see if you look hard enough.


Refreshed and renewed my Shamrock looks great ahead of Patrick’s Day.


My favourite tree in the garden, the Weeping Willow, is starting to bud.

© A Touch of Irish Sparkle 2017

Life Sparkles

Changes.

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Recently I have read Blogs, Facebook posts and Tweets which all have a similar theme. Change. People are changing. People are swapping their day job, career, lifestyle in order to follow their dream, their passion, to follow what they feel within is their destiny. I felt in awe of these people. They weren’t randomly throwing caution to the wind and resigning right, left and centre. They had thought hard about this decision. Had followed up training courses, downsized their homes as they would no longer be earning as before and as well as feeling excited about the new page in their life, they felt scared too, which was also kind of exciting.

I started to think about me. My job, my hopes and dreams, my life. Other people were making the changes they wanted to, what was stopping me? And then the answer arrived. Me!!! I am stopping me. I’m in my comfort zone with my day job, I like it, I’d go as far as to say I enjoy it but do I still want to be doing it in five years time? Three years time? One year from now?

So, whilst I am in post operative recovery mode, I have a lot of thinking to do.  What do I really want to do and how am I going to make this happen? I’m beginning to think this enforced rest has been sent to me in order to take time to reflect. There are some things about my life I cannot change but there are other aspects that I can change. I’m lacking in the confidence to spread my wings and fly some of those dreams for myself, and that needs to change.

Until the next time…


Picture via Pinterest

Life Sparkles

Challenges, Choices, Changes.

Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.4 Comments

Over the past two weeks I have had many thoughts about things I want to blog about but time was against me. I just couldn’t seem to get a few minutes to write anything down. My caring responsibilities were increased and out of thirteen nights, I have had eight that I didn’t get to lie down in bed to sleep. Events that I had planned both at home and outside of home were either cancelled or just did not turn out as planned, but such is life.

I’m a positive person, I can always pick myself up but I think lack of sleep affected me and I just could not get that sparkle ignited. Being in the house for three weeks with very little movement into the outside world did not help either. The last three weeks have proved to me that life is full of challenges, changes and choices. I already knew this of course but sometimes these things just hit you from nowhere and really make you think.

Caring for two elderly parents, working, studying, looking after the home and making time for me is full of challenges. I’m choosing to see these as opportunities. Opportunities for better care for my parents, opportunities to change my working life and follow some dreams. These opportunities will mean I have to make some choices and make some changes. I’m ready for that. It is scary. It is also exciting. 

Today I got my running shoes on and went for a small run. I have ran only once since I completed the Couch to 5k race six weeks ago. It felt good. I felt I had energy today, the first time in weeks. 


My Guitar arrived last week, it is beautiful. I have located a music school nearby who I will contact about lessons.


I have found through my caring role that it is very important for me to look after myself too and to do things that make me happy. This is a huge benefit to my parents as it means I am not totally stressed out all the time. A little selfish me time is important for everyone.

I have asked at work if I can work three days a week and they have agreed to a three month trial which starts this week. This will of course reduce my income but the balance of this is additional time with my parents, time to do things with them, for them and for me too!

Challenges, choices and changes…sometimes you just have to jump in.


Picture via Pinterest. 

Life Sparkles

Ask yourself…what is really important?

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Over the past months I’ve had it in mind to take a complete leap of faith into a different life. We all lead such busy lives, rushing here and there, doing this and that. Even when we sit down in the evenings we’re connected to social media, the Internet, emails or messages, we rarely switch off. 

I wonder why making changes is so scary? Fear of the unknown? Fear of failure? But is it not better to have tried something you really want to do than stay in your comfort zone and dream about it? What if you succeed? What if you fly? It is all possible but not if we don’t take any steps towards achieving the changes we want to make.

Thankfully I passed my recent exam and I achieved the grade two I needed. This leaves me with one final module to complete which commences in October this year. “Promoting Public Health”. It sounds interesting and I’m ready to take on the workload. But how much easier it would be if I had more time. I could be up to date instead of my usual three weeks behind. I could read articles properly instead of skim reading…

I want to learn the guitar. I can’t possibly take this on at the moment with my caring responsibilities, looking after the home, working, studying…but what if I had more time?

I want to spend more time around my parents, looking after them, giving them as many happy days as possible…when I leave the house to go to work these days, I worry about them, I’m anxious about their health…but what is really important, them or the job…they win hands down every time.

I totally understand why people think I should stay with the day job, that it would be wrong for my health and wellbeing not to be engaged in the outside world. I know that being at home all day would be wrong for both me and my parents. They need to keep the independence they currently have. But surely I can plot and plan weekly to suit us all and ensure I’m out and about in the world. I don’t want to go from feeling caged in an office to caged in the house.

Maybe now is the time to reflect on what really is important. I feel I have reached a time of my life where if I don’t take a chance now and do the right thing, follow my heart, follow my dreams, I never will. The opportunities are there now. 

Do I really want to spend the next 20 years sitting at a desk, working on spreadsheets…or is it now time to spread those wings of mine and really sparkle ✨🌟💫


Picture via Pinterest.

Thank you for reading my blog.