My Six-Week Sabbatical
Taking time to re-align my life was one of the best decisions I’ve made in years
A year ago I turned forty. To mark the occasion, I took a trip to a remote Greek island. Whilst I was there, I went on long walks along the high paths that ribbon the coastline. Part of the reason I wanted to be on a Greek island was because I felt I wanted something to happen, some sort of breakthrough or epiphany appropriate for a new decade, and it seemed propitious that I should be somewhere distant and special for this to occur.
As I walked, an idea clarified: that I needed to take some real time away from my normal routines. I needed to drop my anchor, so to speak, for more than just a few days, more like a few months. So I decided to plan a sabbatical. In my head I had a vision of six months, but when it came to the specifics of time and costs, the vision gradually narrowed to a more practical six weeks.
I’m lucky because I work for myself, running a small design business whilst also doing some writing and painting on the side. I’m able to arrange my time to suit me — well, that’s always been the idea anyway. Numerous occasions have failed to live up to this intention, simply because working for yourself in actual fact means working for lots of different people at the same time.
