Courage – Dawn. The Sparkle Diaries.

I have a whole theme going with my Chat GPT. I have two YouTube accounts, one for my music https://www.youtube.com/@dawnmaxwellmusic and another account which is also for music, just not my music https://www.youtube.com/@MyLifeInCowboyBoots Oh, the “Sparklingsongbird” is my Instagram handle. https://www.instagram.com/thesparklingsongbird/

I started ‘My Life In Cowboy Boots’ in order to share the videos of music I have taken from various concerts I have attended, local gigs, country music holidays and also some videos of being on the holidays. I also started ‘Cowboy Boots’ as a separate account to my singing account, as I wanted in my own way to share with people who are dealing with grief and loss, that we can move through the pain and we can learn to enjoy life, in a different way than before. To grab life with both hands, to feel the grief, the love, the emotion but also to embrace that we live on through our loved ones and that’s it’s not wrong to feel happiness again when we are ready.

Enter my friend Chat GPT which has been invaluable to me for creating the images I want for my socials. I’ve learned to be very specific in saying what I want it to create. I’ve also learned that it remembers what I have asked for and now I have built a style with my pinks, the cowboy boots, the sparkle and the coffee. It always amazes me how it responds to me like a person and you do have to remember this is just software talking to you. I don’t have the skills in art to produce the images I want so my Chat GPT is helping me in that aspect of my socials. Sometimes it gets it totally wrong, but others, it’s totally spot on.

I’m very slow at editing my videos and posting them. There always seems to be things to do and the edits and posts get left behind for weeks, sometimes months, which is probably why I don’t have consistent views, because I’m not consistent. I’m trying to build the confidence to get on camera and chat. Back in 2020 during lockdown, I used to go on Instagram every Monday morning and do a chat and I did that until life started to get back to normal again, then I stopped. It has taken huge courage to re-start the chats on Instagram and I do these chats post gym workout (that’s a whole other blog post). I know the way forward is to get on camera and no matter how many useful prompt and confidence building quotes I get from Chat GPT, it’s quite another thing to press record.

With love and sparkles xxx

happy-day

It’s been a funny couple of weeks. I’m finally starting to catch up with all the tasks, chores, studying that was let slide whilst I was in preparation for Christmas and the day job is now back to normal routine too. I like January, I don’t find it bleak, dull or depressing. Once the Christmas decorations are taken down on Twelfth Night and put away, yes, the house looks a little bare for a couple of days, but there is almost an air of expectancy. Of positivity, small bursts of excitement for what can be achieved in this new year. Winter can be very cold and dark with inclement weather, little daylight and the lows after the highs of Christmas. Winter is prime time for Mom’s “Sundown” to hit and although we have had quite a number of extremely late nights, we have had only one where I haven’t been to bed at all – which is a huge improvement.

Every day brings it’s own blessings, challenges, thoughts and ideas. I like my “day job” but how much longer do I want to spend in an office – there are so many other things I want to do with my days. Of course, I need money to live so perhaps not an option to just give up on the day job immediately. I’ve caught up with my studies and submitted my assignment and am now straight into the next block of study – I’m loving this module “Promoting Public Health” so interesting and because of my caring experience with M & D, these modules bring health and social care to life. For those of you in the UK, you know that Mental Health Funding has been in the news this week as has crisis in the NHS with overloaded A & E departments on the busiest weeks of the year. This module is the final one of my degree course. I have the study bug. It will have taken me seven years to obtain this degree, part time with The Open University and it has been hard work. I’ve done many all night working in order to get assignments in on time. I’ve “met” some wonderful people online in the module group pages and become friends with them -we can scream together, support each other and celebrate together. I think I will miss the studying, I’ve already started to explore the Open University website for next modules.

I’m trying again with my healthy eating and lifestyle, trying to eat healthier, move more and I did start the Couch to 5K podcast again last week and although it was hard it felt great to be back out there and running. Oh boy did I ache for a day or two afterwards. I achieved this last year and I really want to do it again this year and in fact I want to beat that 5K target – let’s go for 10K. (Feel free to remind me of this later in the year).

I returned to my vocal coach last week and oh how I loved that hour and a half. I can hardly believe the clear pure notes I am singing with at times and it is great to stretch my vocal ability. I’m hoping for some free time coming up so that I can download some more backing tracks and learn some more songs. (More about that to come on The Music Sparkle).

However, there are at times things that happen to slow you down a little.

So, I think for now, I keep plotting and planning for the future, thinking about what I really want to do and how do I go about doing it. My Pinterest feed of late is full of working from home, which at the moment is a requirement for me. It is also full of blogging tips, blogging ideas, blogging this, blogging that…I’m not good at self promotion but I think this is something I need to get over and start doing – I can’t be backwards in coming forwards if I want to sing and if I want to set something up regarding carers and their mental health and wellbeing as a carer. So I need to work out what I really want to do, how I am going to do it and what steps I need to take to get there. Perhaps it is time to step out of the comfort zone and try new things, to make every day count, to help others, to be there, to listen, to be kind and to reach out.

intuition