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 |   The Good Life. |
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree . But that's just my resume. My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress. ![Merit Badge in Music
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To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*
Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif) ![Merit Badge in Organization
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I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in Leadership
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For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Leadership.gif) |
| 2021 was a difficult year. It was the year before my Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and Parkinson's Disease (PD) were properly diagnosed and treated. I lost 75 pounds without trying and spent most of the year binging on Netflix shows. I couldn't even play games. I just stared at the TV. All. Year. Don't get me wrong; I got shit done that needed to be done, but it was the bare minimum. That's the year I lost my voice. I lost the other instruments, too: piano, guitar, violin, drums. But I could still play slow songs, and piano was decent since the PD only affected my right side at first. My left hand picked up the burden. But I couldn't sing. I have a great support network, so I didn't wallow in depression. But now that I'm medicated for both diseases and have regained maybe 90% of the mobility I lost in '21, I'm working hard to get all the instruments back, including my beloved voice, which I didn't realize was such a dear friend. Frankly, I'm pissed at PD for taking it away from me. Quick side note: the doctors and all the literature blame the PD, and it's well established that PD impacts the voice. But it was the T1D that stole my energy: my cells weren't getting any fuel. That surely contributed to barely using my voice for a year. Either way, the ENT shoved a camera up my nose and proclaimed: vocal fold atrophy. So I saw a speech therapist for about six weeks, and I've been working hard to get my voice back. It's so slow going that I decided to document the journey, maybe just to convince myself the progress is worth it. I took some earlier videos, but I need to dig through them to build the history. For now, this was yesterday: Oct. 26, 2023. For any Preppers concerned that I threw in the towel on my own prep, this is one of the things I'm prioritizing over creating a new novel project I don't currently have time to write. My music, my school, and my family are much more important. Musically, Michelle |
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Aw, thanks, 
