On Wednesday January 20th I realized I had been holding my breath. For months. Literally unable to breath. But on Wednesday I let go of a long breath and decided to pull myself up and away from the despair that has settled on me. The two nasty “P” words (Politics and Pandemic) had me unable to relax and enjoy life as I used to…for nearly a year now. This week I realized I have been waiting to exhale.

So the waiting continues…and as the song says, the waiting is the hardest part. But I am feeling more hopeful than I have in a long time.

I’ve said over and over these past months that the hate and vitriol in the USA was causing me stress. My feeling has always been I don’t honestly care how people vote. But I care very much how people treat each other. And both the pandemic and the politics have created a tired, exasperated and often savage nation and dialogue. It’s just not for me. I refuse to participate.

Breathe. Wait. Breathe. It may still be a long time until people are kind again. It may still be along time until I can be vaccinated. It may still be a long time until I can travel abroad. But I am no longer waiting to exhale.

Instead I am going in search of peace.

First of all…

I feel blessed that I have the means to go in search of the sun. Our time in Maui showed us we could safely social distance away from home. In fact, it actually gave us time to invent some creative socially distanced activities. But, we aren’t going back to Maui, unfortunately.

Instead we have rented a house in the desert. Not a condo, a house. Somewhere we can stay completely away from other people if necessary, while enjoying some warm weather. Getting away from the Pacific Northwest gray is my goal. I know some of you like the rain…but for me, it makes me physically ill. No joke. My joints ache, my sinuses ache, I have bursitis and my energy is zapped. So we are no longer waiting for good weather…we will go in search of it and the joy and good health it brings.

Secondly…

While I do a little soul searching and invest in my personal well-being, I’m going to take a mini blog and social media break. Not too long, just enough to recenter and exhale.

I’ve spent some time scheduling ahead some Friday Travel Posts, lots of Reading Wednesday posts and several of our popular Tasty Tuesday YouTube posts, as well as some Facebook and Instagram posts. You will hardly notice I’m on a break. I can log off, tune out, shut down and take a hiatus from the madness. And breathe.

I’ll check in from time to time, but mostly I want to rinse away some of the negative energy and renew my faith in mankind. That should be easy right?

So what’s next for My Fab Fifties Life? Three months in the desert, then back to the Pacific Northwest in the spring. After that, no idea. We will take it as it comes. Fingers crossed we will be able to be vaccinated by April, and won’t get the virus before that happens. Perhaps we can travel next fall or winter. But, we wait.

So I hope you enjoy all the posts I have been working on for advance scheduling, and I’ll check in on Social Media from time to time and probably rejoin after a month.

And by the way, if you are waiting to exhale, feeling a little overwhelmed by world events, USA madness, media, screen time and snarky, judgemental or ignorant people, you should do a little social media cleanse too. It’s a good way to restart your engines for 2021.

Remembering my word of the year…CALM.

Be kind.

Did you see last week’s 2020 World Travel Awards?

See this week’s top performing pin here Cooking Hawaiian at Home.