Over the holidays, I wanted to focus on presence. I took a month-long break from blogging and significantly reduced my time online. Although the first series of images suggests that my primary activity was dining, I revelled in quality time with family/friends and am grateful for our time together. Our youngest son flew home yesterday, so we are now back to an empty nest.
For those who are reading, thank you for your patience…and for not forgetting about me. I have given a quick teaser of what’s coming up for me this January/February. I will try to send you an update from some of these events. In the meantime, you can find a small ‘Circle of Kindness’ piece that I wrote in Woman’s World Magazine (on sale beginning January 16). My writing will also appear in Jill Weatherholt’s blog publishing on February 21.
I greatly look forward to reconnecting and finding out what has been happening for you.
Welcome back! We all need breaks. Look forward to reading you in 2020.
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Hi, Laurie – You are quick! Your comment came in fractions after I pressed ‘send’. 😀 The break was wonderful and well-used. I hope that your holiday was a good one.
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Right time, right place. 😉 Our holidays were full of family and food. Sorry that they are over.
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Welcome back Donna! Happy 2020! Excited to read that your work is being published!!!!
Deb
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Hi, Deb – Don’t get too excited about the published piece — it is very, very short. Woman’s World did pay me though. (Richard says I should frame the cheque — not!) Looking forward to seeing you on the island soon! 😀
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Likewise! Hey, don’t downplay your achievement – you’ve already lapped everyone who wishes they could be published. Proud of you, Donna 👍
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And that’s exactly why we all adore you. ‘Can’t wait until you live closeby! 😀
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Cheers! To great adventures in 2020!
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Cheers right back to you. I look forward to reading your 2020 adventures as well!
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Looks like you had a great time! Nice to see you back.
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Thanks, Darlene – It feels good to be back. I look forward to catching up!
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Welcome back !!
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Thanks, Aimer – I hope that your holiday was a good one!
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Congratulations Donna on having your article published, not an easy feat with so many writers to choose from, and a belated Happy New Year to you.
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Hi, Suzanne – Nice to hear from you. I hope that your holiday went well. It was a nice surprise having a piece of writing published in WW. It is VERY short! 😀
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Welcome back Donna and congratulations on the Woman’s World piece. That’s exciting!Your writing course is paying dividends!
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Hi, Suzanne – I hope that you had a nice holiday. You are right – the published piece is because of the writing course. Otherwise, I would never have thought to send anything in. 😀
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Welcome back my friend. I’ve missed you but so pleased you had special time with your family and friends over the Festive Season. I’m looking forward to what you will be doing in 2020. You are my inspiration for someone who is living life. Sending my love. xx
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Hi, Sue – I never get tired of your wonderful kindness and support. Thank you for reaching out to me during my break. I’ve missed you too and look forward to catching up.
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Oh my gosh! Congratulations on your Woman’s World piece, Donna! I’m so proud of you! I subscribe to the magazine, so I’ll be sure to watch for your piece. What a great way to start the year. Welcome back! ❤
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Hi, Jill – Thank you for your extremely kind comment. As I mentioned above, the Woman’s World’s piece is extremely short. Still, I was thrilled to get their message that my writing was accepted. It publishes in their next edition. 😀
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Welcome back, Donna. Looks like you’ve been having lots of fun. Good for you. Happy 2020.
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Hi, Janet – Having extended quality time with family and friends has been wonderful. Wishing a happy 2020 right back to you! 😀
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Welcome back! Congrats on the recognition in Women’s World!
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Hi, Pam – Thank you for dropping by, and for your kind comment. I am off to your site now to discover what I missed. See you there!
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🙂
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Good to see you back in the ole blogosphere! I’m looking forward to reading more (hint, hint), including your piece in Woman’s World (not sure where to find it, but I’ll hunt it down!). Looking forward to reconnecting IRL in 2020!
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Hi, Janis – I like your hint. You can find Woman’s World on sale at most grocery store check-out counters. The good news is that you can easily read what I wrote while in the check-out line (and then sneak the copy back on the rack). 😀 Cheers to 2020 IRL adventures!
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Donna! Not back on the rack! In the trolley and paid for ! This is so exciting! Congratulations.
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Thanks so much for commenting, Susan. I greatly appreciate it. Your experssion totally made my day!
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Welcome back and Happy New Year, Donna! Glad to hear you had a merry Christmas with family and friends. Food brings people together and holidays tend to have special foods that we don’t eat at other times so why not enjoy them. Congrats on your published work in Woman’s World. I’ll look out for it and for your post on Jill’s site.
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Hi, Natalie – Wonderful to hear from you. I hope that you had a great holiday. I truly did others things than eat during my break…but gathering around a dining table is a great reminder to take a photo. 😀
I look forward to catching up.
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Glad to see you back, and to hear you were able to spend quality time with family.
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Quality time with family is a precious gift. I wish that I had been more cognisant of this when I was younger. 😀
Wishing you a great 2020 ahead!
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So true, and best to you in 2020 too.
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Hope your break was restful and productive, Donna. Exciting news about your work being published. Have missed your presence and am looking forward to everyone being back “in full swing” following the holidays.
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Hi, Nancy – Thank you for your very kind words. I always kinda wonder “has anyone noticed that I am on a break?” 😀
I look forward to catching up!
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Congratulations on your publication and Happy New Year!
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Thanks, Tracey – I hope that the holidays treated you well. Wishing you a great 2020 ahead!
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Happy new year to you and yours. I look forward to continuing our connection in 2020.
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HI, Jo – I hope that your UK holiday was great. I’m off to visit your site now!
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It sure was – & I’ll be telling everyone about it over the next few months!
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Focusing on real presence and limiting online (technological) presence is a noble intention and pursuit. I say bravo.
Although you were missed, I completely understand.
I spy a beautiful wedding photo in your collage and it brought a huge smile to my face. Where do the years go?
Here’s to 2020 and sharing our experiences with each other! Whether in “real” life presence or the next best thing, our online blogging family 🥰😄🥰
Susan Grace
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Hi, Susan – I’m glad that you spied the wedding photo. Richard and I were married in January 2000, making this our 20th anniversary. Where does the time go, indeed?!!
How did your move go? I look forward to reading about your upcoming adventures. Thank you for your friendship and your incredible support.
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Hi Donna,
The move went great and I documented its reverberating effects in my January 1 blog about cleanses, i.e. a move can be a component of an ultimate cleanse.
Giving up the apartment felt as if I unloaded a full ton of bricks off my back and now I can breathe a bit easier.
I certainly look forward to reading about your adventures in 2020 and am thrilled about your extracurricular writing assignments! I’m in the desert right now paying a quick visit to hubby and then it’s back to Pacifica to help my daughter. It’s going to be an interesting year and I am ready!
😍😍😍
Susan Grace
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Hi, Susan – I loved that post. Very insightful (as always). I am excited for you and your year ahead. Please keep me posted!
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Hi Donna – welcome back to the blogosphere. I took two weeks off so I could focus on family over the Christmas holidays and then leapt back in last week. I shared my #WOTY and thought you might be doing one too?? Lovely to have you back and judging from the comments, you were missed. And congrats on the magazine feature xx
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Happy New Year, Leanne! Thank you for your kind wishes. I hadn’t intended to do a resolution or a word-of-the-year for 2020. But…’invitational’ keeps on popping into my mind…so that just may be it. I’m headed to your site now to discover your WOTY. See you there!
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Welcome back Donna! Here’s to a good 2020.,
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Thank’s Susan – I look forward to catching up. Wishing you a wonderful year ahead as well!
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Nothing wrong in taking a blogging break, Donna. In fact, I can highly recommend them. They give you an amazing insight into life (past, present and future) and help refresh our minds and bodies. I’m always amazed by the beauty of life when on a break. It always makes me very thankful for not only what life has given me, but for who I am.
Wishing you and your family much happiness, good health and laughter in 2020.
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HI, Hugh – Being thankful for who we are, and what life has given us, is a wonderful state of being. I learned a great deal about blogging breaks from you. You are completely right — they can totally help to reset and refresh. See you at your site – I look forward to catching up!
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Is it too late to say Happy New Year? 🙂
It sounds like your new year is off to a running start! Nothing quite beats the excitement of being published and you should be proud. Congratulations!!
WP is still not playing nicely with me and won’t let me *like* this post, but I do!!
As Deb said, don’t put down the achievement. It rocks 🙂
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Hi, Joanne – Although I’m no etiquette expert, it’s never too late to say ‘Happy New Year’ in my books! I’m sorry to hear that WP is not playing nicely for you. I miss your posts.
I look forward to seeing you this summer. Erica and I are already planning and scheming possible adventures together!
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My favourite word in here was ‘scheming’. The two of you already sound like my kind of people. There will be shenanigans!! 😀
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I absolutely LOVE shenanigans. I can’t wait!!
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A very fun post, Donna! A picture is worth a thousand words. You definitely know your priorities. Presence, family and friends. I am glad I am part of your priorities. I was in a line up at the grocery store this afternoon. The woman behind me was leafing through a Woman’s World Magazine and planning to buy it. She ended up hearing all about my friend having a story in the Circle of Kindness section in their next publication, January 16th. I know she will purchase it and look for you. Another fan. You have many of them, Donna, and you know I am one of them! xx
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HI, Erica – You make a wonderful publicity agent. Should I ever need one, you’ll be the first person that I think of! 😀 I look forward to our next adventure together.
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Welcome back and all the best for 2020.
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Thanks, Anabel – I look forward to catching up!
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Hi Donna! Welcome back…you’ve been missed but we all knew we’d see you again! And thank you again for reminding us that we CAN take breaks now and then and those who read our blogs and like what we have to say will stick with us and be there when we return. Looking forward to your “reflections” as the year unfolds. ~Kathy
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Hi, Kathy – Thanks so much for dropping by. I did stay away longer than I intended. Now I need to figure out the magical equation of including blogging back in, but not losing my IRL presence. It can be a tricky balancing act. I look forward to following your insights, and your vlog. See you there!
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Hurray! You’re back!!
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This was a wonderful comment to wake up to, Antoinette. I look forward to catching up and reading how your new-found retirement is going.
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I came back from my blogging break last week. Didn’t realize you’d bugged out when I did, but great minds. I hope to post once a week now, but we’ll see about that won’t we? Anyhoo, nice to catch up with again.
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Hi, Ally – I think that we had pretty similar timeframes for our breaks. I miss your writing, and your humour. I look forward to catching up.
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Donna, I love the presentation of the photos with the captions of your blogging break! It looks like a wonderful time with your family and friends. Congratulations on having a piece published in Woman’s World Magazine — no mean feat! 😀 I look forward to seeing you on Jill’s blog in February! It’s a hoot! 😀
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Hi, Annika. Thank you so much for reading and following. I am off to explore your site further. See you there!
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We must have been on the same break timeline, Donna! Glad to read you spent less time online. It’s a great feeling to just be present and enjoy what is in front of us. I just posted today for the first time since December 15th and am sharing a better winter road trip experience. I look forward to more of your posts and your article from Woman’s World magazine!
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Hi, Terry – It seems like a few of us had very similar break timelines. That makes me feel a bit better (atleast in terms of my FOMO infliction). 😀
I look forard to reading about your winter road trip experience. I also look forward to following your upcoming Sunday series — see you at Ying Yang!
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Hi Donna! Welcome back! How wonderful and exciting you have some pieces of writing published in the Woman’s World magazine and on Jill’s blog (Jill also writes for that magazine as you might know :-)). Is that a result from the travel writing course you took?
One thing that’s always present in your photos is lots of smiles. You are a perfect example of enjoying life. Everyone is allowed blogging breaks and we all decide when and if and what we post. It’s our blog after all and there should be no obligations to anyone. Like Erica wrote in her most recent post: blogging has to remain fun and not a chore. I’m guilty of seeing it as a chore sometimes though! Don’t feel like you have to justify any break! Your readers and followers will always be here when you return. 🙂
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Hi, Liesbet – I’ve missed you — and your very wise advice!
A consistent for me is that I’m all in or all out. That has made retirement much easier…and makes blogging breaks easier too. Glad to see such warm, familiar faces upon my return! 😀
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Love your blogs Donna! Congratulations on getting published! Can’t wait to read it and more blogs too! 🥳
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Hey – you shouldn’t be commenting on your birthday. You should be out celebrating!! Miss you TONS!
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Hi Donna – it’s great to see you around again … as I know I’ll catch glimpses and ideas in and around Vancouver Island … refreshing my memories. Love the photo of you in 2000 – I’d spotted that too .. but wonderful your son as able to be over to join you over the Christmas time …
Does Lynette have a birthday yesterday too … ah well I’ll have to check in … cheers Hilary
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Happy Birthday, Hilary – Yes, Lynette is your birthday twin and she is awesome – just like you. Thanks so much for stopping by. I am off to read your post now!
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So lovely to have you back blogging Donna, I’ve missed you 🙂 Your break looks like a fabulous time and can’t wait to read more of your inspiring words in 2020 xx #mlstl
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I never doubted that you would return. Hope that you had plenty of well-earned “Me” time. Helen and I are in Key West and loving the warm weather and enjoying lots of people-watching–there a lot of real characters here. Congratulations on the WW article. Obviously, I’m not a subscriber, but Helen will check it out. Best…Joe
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Hi, Jo – Thanks so much for stopping by. I hadn’t planned to take a month long break…but time has a way of speeding past. Enjoy Key West. It sounds amazing!
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Hi Donna, Happy New Year. Guess what? You have three guesses. I am hoping you get it one. Louise
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You’re going on a Camino?! Which one? When? I’m super excited for you!!
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Thrilled to hear of your upcoming (first paid) writing gig with Women’s World and article on Jill’s website. Look forward to reading them both. Delighted to know that you successfully unplugged during the holidays creating wonderful memories with family for years to come.
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Great to hear from you, Lisa. The magazine piece is very small (a blurb really), but it is my first official ‘paid for’ writing — so that part was very cool.
Where are you now? We are in the Mayan Riveria.
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Small or big, paid is paid and very exciting. I am certain that you have many more bylines in your future. Would love to visit the Riviera Maya but it is not meant to be this trip.
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Congratulations on getting paid for an article you wrote, Donna! It is lovely to see another post from you and know that you had a good Christmas break. I am still trying to catch up on my blog reading after the ‘holidays’ (which were such hard work but fun too)
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Look at all the comments from everyone who missed you…me, included. Just behind in my blog reading…as always. So excited to check out your article in Woman’s World. Hope it is still available in stores.
Glad you are back!!
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Thanks so much, Leslie. You are always so kind. The Woman’s World article should come with a warning. It is extremely short — and modified. Still, it was a fun first experience. I look forward to catching up on what has been happening for you!
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Donna, congrats on your Woman’s World article! It looks like you had a wonderful holiday break with friends and family. Looking forward to connecting soon.
Jude
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Thanks, Jude – The WW’s piece was an awesome learning experience. 😀
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