Part 1.1: You Have Permission To Take a Sabbatical
How each person is able to organize their life to go on a sabbatical will be a very personal thing. No two lives are the same. At the same time, when it comes to obstacles for taking an extended time off, these are the two most common challenges people bring up:
I don’t have the time for it
I don’t have the money for it.
Both of these have to do with our beliefs about life. What do we believe about time or money? Is there really not enough time? Is there not enough money to do what you really want?
Let’s take a look.
Beliefs About Time: Who owns your life?
These questions boil down into, who or what is your ultimate source of life?
When I think about it, my belief that I can and should take a sabbatical stems from a belief that my life is a gift from God and I should steward this gift to the best of my ability. This includes trying to do my best work, loving others well and therefore, taking good care of my self so that I can be my best self for God, for myself and for others.
I can’t create my best work if I don’t rest. I can’t be a great friend, sister or partner if I’m running on empty. I can’t even know God well if I’m not rested.
While you don’t need to believe in God to go on a sabbatical, but it’s helpful to consider where the voice that tells you “you can’t take time off” is coming from.
Who or what really owns you?
I believe that time is a gift. Your life is special. To be given a life is a gift.
There are places and cultures in the world where people do not log their work hours. There are places in the world where people are given 6 weeks vacation off work.
For me, these realities exist as mental anchors in that Other Universe, of which I am also a part of. I am both a citizen of the first world, with its timelines, machinery and efficiency, but am also a citizen of a world of island time, transatlantic sailing trips and endless coastlines where time seems to stand still. I don’t need to imprison myself into one of these realities or another. I have permission to cross between the two worlds, back and forth, throughout my lifetime.
Don’t let yourself become so trapped in one world, that you can’t step out into the other, if you feel called to.
I am allowed to move between worlds.
At one point, I thought I would keep traveling forever. I would live in tropical paradises around the world, and keep bouncing from adventure to adventure. Then I noticed a quiet calling to return to the first world and get some “professional” work experience. Perhaps it was not a curse to be Canadian. Perhaps it was a gift that I should not waste. Perhaps I should use what I have been given, which is access to all the resources in Canada to try to contribute to the world.
There came a time when chasing adventures didn’t give me a sense of purpose anymore. I wanted to contribute more, and I felt compelled to go back into the city. This was one reason I stopped travelling in 2018.
Likewise, I noticed that trying to force myself to stay in the city forever was also counterproductive. I felt drawn to release myself from the grind and pressure of the city in order to experience the flow of travel. This was why I started planning for a sabbatical. I need to make sure I had a pressure valve.
Don’t let yourself be convinced that you can’t leave your job. Another job will come at the right time.
I believe that if you are really listening to Life (or God, your higher, inner wisdom), you will be led to the next right thing for your soul. If that next right thing is to begin thinking about a sabbatical, then you might be led to read these blogs. :)
Don’t count yourself out and think that sabbaticals are only for lucky people. You are lucky. You can be someone who has a life with good work and good rest.
To me, the sabbatical itself is an anchor into a reality where there is time for what is important.
Periods of rest and dormancy are just as important as periods of work and creation. They are all parts of being human.
You have permission to dream of a sabbatical and take one, if that what you desire.
Beliefs About Money: Who is your true source in life?
“I don’t have the money to do a sabbatical.” Or do you?
Money can be a sensitive topic, and I share my scenario just so you can see how one person did this.
Firstly, I realize that I’m in a particular stage of life. I don’t have kids or a partner to support. I am financially independent and am responsible for supporting myself. At the same time, I do have a stable family so that if anything were to happen, I could lean on my parents or family. I realize that this gives me more psychological peace of mind to imagine a sabbatical, with less pressure than someone might feel if their whole life was in their hands. I also believe in a good God who is the ultimate source of my life, wellbeing and resources.
From this place, I believe that if I am meant to go on sabbatical, God will provide, just as he always has been. Put another way, as a believer in God, I am entitled to the gift of a sabbatical, and as a child of God, I receive the time as a gift.
Another way I see it is this: I can’t afford not to plan for and take extended times off in my life. My creativity will flounder, my soul will dry up, and my professional life will suffer.
Inherent in this, I trust that God will therefore provide for my sabbatical.
At the same time, I am of course human in a world where money has to come from somewhere. In Part 2, we’ll get into the nitty gritty of how I funded my trip and how you can too.
