Update, No. 3

Escapism at its finest.

My dearest readers, please excuse my absence lately. It’s not you, it’s me.

I’m wading through some personal and health issues and haven’t had the head for writing. As you may recall, one of my last newsletters illustrated how I have been suffering from an increase in migraines. That tends to dampen my ability to form coherent thoughts.

Aside from that, there are some really awesome things happening in my life and for those nearest and dearest to me. More on that when I’m able to share.

There are some not so awesome things happening too, and I intend on writing about that at length because I think it’s an important story that many of us can relate to. I’m working on formulating that and distilling it down to readable text. It’s a lot.

Oftentimes, I hide from these kinds of messy parts of life by doing. I do the dishes or make a dessert in order to avoid doing something else I just don’t wanna do. I watch television or scroll through social media to avoid housework. I make the bed or take a shower to avoid my morning emails. I read a book or flip through a magazine to avoid thinking about a major life change or decision.

I know I’m not unique. Many people do things like walk the dog or do the dishes instead of something they don’t want to do. It’s a natural reaction we humans have to discomfort and uncertainty in life.

(How can you resist this face?)

These last few weeks, as I have been navigating some pretty heavy shit, I’ve made it my singular goal to watch every award nominated film of this season. I am allowing myself to get lost in other people’s stories so that I don’t have to face mine. It’s escapism at its finest.

That’s more than okay though, as long as I don’t spend too much time there. I can’t make difficult things disappear, they’re still there after the credits roll, but I can be gentle with myself while they’re happening. I can allow my brain a respite from the noise while it gathers its strength to deal with reality. I encourage you to allow a similar form of grace into your lives as an interlude to life’s messiness.

On the upside, I have watched some amazing performances onscreen and I’ll be sharing them with you soon. I also perfected my recipe for the easiest loaf of bread you can make, and I’m going to share that recipe with you, too. It’s my way of making lemonade from lemons.

I was also able to recognize that I need a much larger mental health break and planned a budget bucket-list trip to California for my 50th birthday in March.

My honey and I will be spending time in Sonoma, Big Sur, and Capistrano, driving as much of the PCH as possible. I adore that area and wanted to spend our tourism dollars in an area hard hit by natural disasters. (Currently accepting recommendations and tips.)

This is escapism in a more literal sense, but it’s also fulfilling a promise I made to myself and my children when they were younger. Go someplace new every year. It doesn’t matter if it’s a town in your home state or one across the globe, go. Explore. Gain new insight and perspective. Collect experiences. Be a local in a new town for a weekend. See the sights. Eat the food. Patronize local businesses. Meet new friends.

This is something that fell to the wayside during COVID and even though my kids are grown now and exploring the world with their peers, I aim to add it back in my own life.

If travel makes sense for you, you might want to incorporate yearly exploration into your life. Broaden your horizons and escape from reality for a while. Make your own lemonade from those experiences. Even if you can’t go far, you can find something new and absorb the creative energy.

Glancing at the clock, I must wrap this up now because I’ve been avoiding my morning routine for long enough. It’s time to get to work. When you hear from me next, it will be all about awards season and include that bread recipe I promised. Stay tuned.