All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
What I look for, I amplify — so I choose to seek joy, possibility, and proof that life is working in my favor.
💡 Why This Speaks to My Intention:
“What I look for, I amplify” ➤ This highlights the power of attention and how my brain filters reality based on what I expect to see.
“So I choose to seek joy, possibility…” ➤ Affirms my power to choose a hopeful, abundant lens.
“…and proof that life is working in my favor.” ➤ Replaces old scarcity narratives with a belief in support, ease, and flow — especially with money and the economy.
(I am doing the writing exercises in the back of the book You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero, and this topic was about Seeking the Reality I Choose. I am also learning to trade futures, so the art is related to the charts we use to make the trades.)
Feyre and the fey wolf. Image created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is a fabulous fantasy tale of personal discovery, growth, and becoming. Feyre reminds me of myself, willing to work herself to the bone to provide for her family, while usually putting her needs last. As often happens in unhealthy family units, her sacrifices are taken for granted.
Accidentally killing a wolf who is fey, she finds herself bound and forced into a world of magic, terror, and beauty unlike anything she has ever experienced. She falls in love with her gift of painting that has never before had the chance to blossom. She begins to see herself as capable of much more than she ever thought possible. And she even falls in love.
Little does she know that every step she takes toward her new life brings her closer to death.
I was terribly disappointed in so many of the characters in this story who did nothing to protect Feyre. Sarah J. Maas is the master of making us dislike characters before letting them redeem themselves. I hope future books give me something to like about some of them because at the end of this book, I was not impressed with anyone but Feyre. Ok, maybe I see some hope for one of the males, but I don’t want to spoil the surprises for anyone who hasn’t read the books yet.
Mass, Sarah J. A Court of Thorns and Roses. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
Fear walks with me, not ahead of me — it is the shiver that proves I’m expanding, the hush before my next leap, the echo that reminds me I’m alive and rewriting the rules I was taught to obey.
💬 Why This Resonates for Me:
“Fear walks with me, not ahead of me” ➤ I’m learning to hold fear as a companion, not a leader — I’m still in control.
“The shiver that proves I’m expanding” ➤ Honors that fear is a signal of growth, not failure. I’m not broken — I’m stretching.
“The hush before my next leap” ➤ Speaks to my propensity to reflect deeply before making bold moves — and that those silences are sacred, not stuck.
“The echo that reminds me I’m alive and rewriting the rules I was taught to obey” ➤ This is about healing financial trauma, breaking inherited scarcity mindsets, and forging my own path — with fire and grace.
(I am doing the writing exercises in the back of the book You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero, and this topic was about fear. I am also learning to trade futures, so the art is related to the charts we use to make the trades.)
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
I build wealth to rewrite the story — to bless those I love, heal the wounds behind me, and create a life of joyful abundance, generosity, and freedom for all who walk beside me.
✨ Why This Works:
“I build wealth to rewrite the story” ➤ Acknowledges that my path is one of transformation and conscious re-authoring of generational patterns.
“To bless those I love” ➤ Centers my heart-based motivation to support friends and family.
“Heal the wounds behind me” ➤ Honors the lineage and the pain I’m transmuting through my journey — a true act of generational healing.
“Create a life of joyful abundance, generosity, and freedom” ➤ Highlights the quality of life I’m manifesting — not just money, but liveliness, joy, and choice.
“For all who walk beside me” ➤ Speaks to the shared nature of my success — that my elevation raises the collective.
(I am doing the writing exercises in the back of the book You are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero, and this topic was about coming up with a “Why” for wanting to create wealth. I am also learning to trade futures, so the art is related to the charts we use to make the trades.)
I’m learning day trading, and I joined an organization of women learning trading skills. One of the activities they coordinate is an online book club that reads one book per month about either financial habits, abundance mindset, or trading. They also have recordings of their weekly discussions going back to October of 2024. Being the overachiever that I am, I am going back and reading the past books they covered and watching the recordings. Because I have never felt confident in my financial literacy, I figure it can’t hurt to learn as much as possible before I ever attempt to trade with real money. Everything I am doing currently is with a demo account they call paper trading. There is no real money involved.
The first book I heard the tail end of was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It sounded intriguing, so I found a used copy and got started reading. Boy, was I in for a ride. Yes, there were some interesting tidbits, but mostly I was repeatedly horrified by the outdated examples of financial geniuses we were supposed to admire. Charles Schwab was regaled for many a chapter. The same Charles Schwab who was just in the news for being in the oval office with President Trump laughing about the enormous amounts of money he made when the stock market plummeted. Yikes.
There are so many things in this book that I find reprehensible that I don’t even know where to begin. Mr. Hill refused to allow his son, who was born without ears, to learn sign language because he believed his son would someday hear. He drilled hard work and determination into his boy and was proud of the fact that he never allowed his son to have accommodations for his hearing loss. His son’s future success is provided as evidence that his way is the right way, and the fact that his theories are based on 20 years of interviews following rich and powerful people.
Robert E. Lee is praised for his courage in siding against the union, knowing he and many others were putting their lives on the line for their cause. Booker T. Washington is praised for his tolerance and described as someone handicapped by race. Anyone in poverty is there because they have accepted poverty as their fate and succumbed to a lowly state rather than doing all the right things to make themselves rich. Unions, organizing, or criticizing capitalism are evidence of stupidity and small minds because there is no possible way to have an organized, civilized, functioning lifestyle if the giant capitalistic machinery is not in charge of it all. All people should gladly praise the powers that be for their brilliance in making our lives better with their riches.
Ahem…I almost couldn’t get through the book. Then I got to the spot I started listening to in the weekly book club gatherings and was reminded that I liked the ending. The last third of the book is much more tolerable and focuses on concepts I can get behind. The ideas center on finding mentors and experts in the fields in which we want to better ourselves or learn more about. There are brilliant examples of visionary exercises that can be done to deepen our awareness of our subconscious connection to wisdom and theories about creativity and drive that are quite excellent. There is an entire section on developing intuition and overcoming fear that are wonderful practices for all areas of life, not just financial growth.
I cannot recommend this book to anyone because the outdated parts are simply too icky, in my opinion. It says it has been revised and updated for the 21st century. If that is so, I don’t even want to imagine what the original version included.
Hill, Napoleon. Think and Grow Rich. Jeremy P Tarcher, 2007.
I just watched the first episode of a show that came out this year called Perfect Match that has me hooked. If Jane Austen and Shakespeare had a Chinese baby, this would be the result. Men dressing as women to sneak into the women’s quarters, women on a mission to teach their husbands to be obedient, a mother with her 5 daughters trying to find husbands for them all, enemies to lovers (at least I assume they will become lovers), and some prideful men and women who need to learn humility. It is set in the Northern Song dynasty somewhere between 960 and 1120. The costumes and sets are unbelievably gorgeous, the music is beautiful, and the comic relief is well timed.
Why do I love themes of romance and marriage so much? Romantic comedies are the most wonderful of all storylines, in my opinion. I have read heavy stories, weighty novels, watched movies and shows that made me weep for the tragedies people must suffer, and cheered along with every adventure, sports, underdog story there is. However, if any tale does not have a theme of love woven through it, there is something missing for me. Whether it is fantasy, action, comedy, procedural, or even a documentary, I most enjoy a love story as part of the tale. It is the way I am wired.
I think they’ve even woven in a bit of a Taming of the Shrew concept in this one with an unmanageable wife who is too harsh with her husband. I am curious to see how they handle that plot line. And I watched a scene where they were just haggling over the cost of tea in China. The daughters have opened a restaurant and are trying to create a life for themselves, while taking care of their mother and repeatedly talking her down from catastrophic actions. She is quite reactionary. The daughters work together to manage their mother, the men who come calling, and their business as best they can.
We got a new Husky puppy. She is a mess! We are her 5th home in 5 months, poor baby. She seems terrified of my grandfather and barks hysterically when she sees him, which makes me wonder if she was mistreated by an older man. She is horribly food insecure/struggles with food scarcity fear. She attacks her food bowl the second the food is presented and scarfs it down so quickly that she makes herself sick. That makes me think she had to fight for her food and eat it fast if she was to get any in her past. She begs for food constantly and acts very anxious around mealtimes. We hope that over time she will develop a sense of security and comfort around food with our consistent feeding schedule and plenty of food, so she does not experience hunger.
She has had a few fights with our other dog Kenji (who is twice her size.) She is fearless. If she thinks he is getting a treat that she is not, she is ready to battle to the death. And her behavior is making his food insecurities resurface that were laid to rest over a year ago. He also came to us hungry and terrified that he wouldn’t get enough. But he finally got to the point that he would leave his food in his bowl until he felt like eating it. Now he is back to running to his bowl and scarfing it down the way he used to and getting goaded into fighting with the new girl.
We named her Saki. I heard the name on a Japanese show we were watching and I liked it. We probably don’t pronounce it right, but we say “Saw-kee” as the pronunciation. She already knows it is her name and has learned sit and stay. She is super affectionate and wants to give kisses all throughout the day. She will go play for a while and then come check in with me for attention, kisses, pets, and reassurance. Then she runs outside and plays some more. She and Kenji are having fun together. I can tell he is happy to have a playmate again. He misses Aiko (who passed away recently.)
Two Huskies are a lot of energy. They wrestle and horseplay quite a bit. They run around the yard and tear up anything left laying around. Saki thinks everything is meant for her to chew on, especially David’s shoes, her harness, and anything stuffed. She’s a good girl and I can tell she is going to be a loyal, wonderful dog for our family. But it is going to be a slow challenge to get her there.
Saki after playing in the mud.Kenji and his new little sister Saki.
I am trying to learn to keep a positive mindset when all around me feels as though it is crumbling to ashes. That used to be easy for me. People criticized me as being too much of a Pollyanna, who was a character from an old movie who always tried to keep her focus on the positives. People who seem to hold disdain for the upbeat nature of the little girl forget a key theme in the film. Pollyanna maintained this attitude despite having lost both of her parents, having to move in with an aunt she did not know, and enduring unkindness from many people in her little life. She continued looking for the good in people through it all, even people no one else was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Near the end, she becomes paralyzed and loses the mental fortitude to keep herself positive. She gives up and no longer wants to live through any more struggle. Then all the people whose lives she has touched come back and lift her up by reminding her of the amazing effect she has had on them and the entire community. Their strengthening renews her conviction to stay positive and seek medical help for her paralysis.
I am not dealing with paralysis. Everyone in my life currently is doing fairly well. My house hasn’t burned down. My pets are all ok right now. I have a job. My husband has a job. I have a roof over my head and food to eat. The temperature is comfortable in Texas right now. I am not living in a war zone. I have medical insurance and can get care if needed. I am losing weight and making improvements in my body day by day. I am not in a horrific amount of pain currently. I am ok. But I ache for the fact that people around me are suffering. I cry for the people who don’t have access to the same privileges and comforts that I have. I am saddened by the new laws and regulations that are being enacted in our government currently that will harm people who most need support like people with disabilities, minorities, immigrants, and the poor. How can I be positive and joyful and full of hope for the future when so many other people cannot?
Does optimism turn a blind eye to the suffering of our brothers and sisters, our friends and relatives, our neighbors and communities that are struggling? Does keeping my focus only on concepts of growth and peace and hope and positivity somehow negate their pain or make me less empathetic or out of touch with the reality everyone faces? This is a real struggle. And I do not have an answer that satisfies my conscience.
I would love feedback if anyone has grappled with this same concept and has suggestions.
I learned a new word today—paracosm. The internet says it is a detailed imaginary world. Paracosms are often formed by people in childhood and the creators can have complex, deeply felt relationships with this universe of imaginary characters and conventions. I remember having vivid daydreams as a child, but do not remember a consistent fictional imaginary world that I would return to. I find this concept fascinating. These are some expert level imaginers to be committed to a fully created universe that they continue to develop from a young age on through adulthood. I am actually quite impressed.
As a writer, I try to create alternate worlds for my characters in my books and I can’t keep all the details straight. I forget my own rules and setting characteristics and have to keep referring to my notes. People who create paracosms just do it naturally and don’t even have to try. I wonder if novelists who create such amazing fantasy worlds are doing this, in a sense. Maybe some people are naturally more capable of writing fantasy because their brains easily create paracosms.
In case anyone else was unaware of this curious word, I thought I would share what I learned. Then I also made some art on my Gencraft site about paracosms. I simply typed in that word using different models and let AI share what the word made them think of. They turned out really interesting.
I’m having a creative moment. The level of bliss I am experiencing is every creator’s dream. It is that moment when everything feels possible, and all synapses are firing and one idea sparks another. There are so many tabs open in my brain that I need to pause and write about it for a minute just to process the joy.
Let me begin by describing the tabs open on my computer…just for funsies. I have one open that is a bank of usernames I need for different creative tools I’m using that I access through my writing company’s browser. Yes, my best friend and I started a technical writing company. We have meetings and everything. They are on our calendar. We feel very grown up. I’m working on an ebook for our company’s portfolio that is about Data Privacy. It is too wordy, and Erica (my business partner) basically told me I must go back to the drawing board and turn all my wordiness into bullet points and sound bites and images and stuff because people don’t actually like to read all that. Sigh…
In other news, I have a tab open to my current obsession, Suno, where I create music from my lyrics or AI’s lyrics, or some combination of our poetic collaboration. I just wrote a prompt to create a French swamp blues song called “Vie triste”, which translates to “Sad Life.” AI made up this chorus and I love it so much.
And with every kiss We say to ourselves (Ouch) But without kisses It’s worse (Ouch again)
Before that, I generated a sort-of-Salsa song called “Qué rico me lo bailas.” I laughed out loud at Google Translate’s suggestion for the English title as “How delicious you dance it for me.” No, I don’t think that is quite the right interpretation of the meaning. ChatGPT explained that it implied a playful and flirtatious tone, with a focus on admiring someone’s dance moves and rhythm. That sounds more like the idea I was going for. Anyway, I hope it doesn’t say anything awkward in Spanish. Someone will have to let me know if it does.
On another tab, I have an art AI program open called Artistly, where I’m trying to generate an image of a dancer to be the album cover for the Salsa song. It is a new program for me, so I am watching videos to learn how to change the color of his shirt, make him stop pointing at the sky, fix his strangely formed hand, erase the stick he’s now holding for some reason, then add a background. The technology is super impressive. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m figuring it out and having fun as I learn. And then I noticed that Suno already generated the perfect album cover. It is a picture of a bird shaking its tailfeathers. I see you AI. Very funny.
Suno AI generated based on my lyrics.
While my latest song is playing, which happens to be a Korean Bluegrass piece about an old married couple, I am working on art on my Gencraft website. One of my projects with my art is to train AI to be more diverse with body size, skin tone, hair texture, gender, disabilities, and age. I am currently trying to teach one model how to make a little black fairy have an afro instead of loose curls. It is basically arguing with me and struggling to understand.
I am going to wrap up this blog post I am currently working on, then I plan to work a bit on a memoir I am ghostwriting for someone. Next, I will turn my focus to my own novel I am writing. If there is any time left, I will attempt to learn more about template creation for selling digital products on Etsy using a new template website I am learning how to navigate called Templett. I have started a store and am trying to fill it with unique, creative digital art and templates for people to download. There is so much I want to do and not enough hours in the day! When can I read any of my hundreds of books waiting for my attention? When can I get back to any one of my novels I’ve started to write, but not finished? When can I work on my coding classes online to make myself more marketable in tech? And I do have a real job where I work 8 hours in front of a computer with AI every day.
The reality of all this is that most of it was not possible until right now. AI was not advanced enough to be at the stage where engineers needed my help to train them with language. My job was not possible a few years ago. I am not an artist and do not enjoy attempting to create art with my hands, but for the first time in the history of ever, my words can be transformed into beautiful images by AI through collaboration. I love music and can read music, but do not have the time or musical skills on multiple instruments to create the music I am imagining to accompany my lyrics. This new technology did not exist until now. This is a new opportunity for word-creatives like me to express ourselves in a whole new way. And I am here for it.
rebekahjmarshall 