Hello January

January 3, 2023January 2, 2023 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.4 Comments

And all at once here we are again in January. A new year and a new month. I can’t comprehend at times how fast time is actually going. Last year passed by in a flash. Perhaps it’s because I’m getting older, or because I was very busy or because I was actually starting to feel like I was building a life again, that I was coming out of the other side of grief. Whatever the reason, the year passed very quickly and I’m very pleased that I achieved what I achieved. I pushed myself, I pushed my comfort zone, I pushed my limits and I achieved a goal. I had many moments of deliberation, lack of confidence, lack of self belief yet there was something inside me, driving me on. A passion to follow this path.

I don’t find January a depressing month, neither do I find it a flat month after all the excitement and build up to the festive season. I find January to be a clear and bright month. The evenings start to gain a little light, the new year sweeps into our lives like a new broom, prompting us to declutter, to clean up our act and our homes, to make way for new beginnings, new days and weeks ahead of us, goals to achieve, dreams to follow, places to visit and time to reflect on our lives and decide if we wish to change anything or not. It’s not all about resolutions at this time of year, I rarely kept to mine so I don’t make them anymore. January, especially the first week of January before we get back into routine, is a time of reflection, cleansing and thoughts. What are we bringing with us to 2023 and what have we decided to leave in 2022 because it doesn’t serve us anymore?

January is a beautiful month for appreciation of what we have. Long time readers and visitors to my blog know that I love my notes books and lists. I have a Go Girl journal for this year https://gogirlplanner.com/ (I bought mine from Amazon) and I love it. So much room to write things down and plan. I do a lot of work online and on my laptop and I still love to write things down. I suppose I’m a bit high tech/old school.

I hope you have a wonderful January and that this beautiful start to 2023 brings you hope for better days, pushes you to follow a dream or set a goal, invigorates you to make changes, or not, whatever you want your year to be like, it’s up to you. Whatever you do or don’t decide to do, remember, this is your year to sparkle.

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

January

January 2, 2022December 31, 2021 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.4 Comments

Some people find January and the start of the year very flat and depressing. After all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas and New Year season, the glitz and the glamour, the excitement and the sparkle, I suppose January can feel quite uninspiring. Winter weather, darker nights and mornings, a long time to wait for payday, January can be a long, dark month.

I don’t know why and taking the above into consideration, I have always loved January. The evenings are starting to get brighter with the promise of Spring on the way. I love it especially if we get those cold, clear, frosty days, it’s almost like a cleansing of the new year ready for the activities ahead to take place.

I suppose I am ever the optimist. Always trying to see the positives, look for the bright side of situations, seeing the sparkle however dim it may be in some situations. I must be a pain in the ass to those who see January as a dark place. I hope though that by reaching out to those who are struggling, listening to their story and giving a loving word, we can let a little of the brightness of the new year through and help them to see a path forwards.

January you are awesome, the gateway to a new year, fresh and brighter days ahead.

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

Hopes and Dreams

January 4, 2021December 30, 2020 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

I appear to be full of hopes, dreams and plans for this new year ahead. I have such a positive vibe going on as I write this blog. I have my down days, where the memories fall out of my eyes and down my cheeks. January is now a tough month for me as much as I enjoy the month itself. This year it will be two years since my Daddy passed and I still relive various days over and over. Yet this year, amongst the sadness there is a huge appreciation of the blessings I had with my parents and gratitude for everything they gave me especially my independent spirit and ability to see things through.

So this year, lets see what I can make happen, what I can manifest and how much sparkle I can share. There will be good days, bad days and days that truly shine. We really are never too old to follow a dream, to take a chance, to grab and opportunity. Here’s to an amazing 2021 to us all, a year of hope, togetherness and moving on.

With love and sparkles xxx

Life Sparkles

Decisions, Decisions…

January 15, 2017 Dawn - The Sparkle Diaries.Leave a comment

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