The Amazing Idea of a Sabbatical

University administrators don’t usually take sabbaticals. I’ve heard of a few who negotiate some kind of break. Usually they are very senior people with long histories at their campuses. For faculty, the idea is to provide time to focus on research and writing. Since administrators aren’t expected to be doing research and writing, then there’s no need for such a break from the day to day. But there is another benefit of this ‘seventh year’. I think administrators would benefit from some version of a sabbatical, but that’s for another day.

(In case you were wondering, seven years is a traditional time frame for earning tenure and the idea of a sabbatical comes fron the idea of the Sabbath, a day of rest on the seventh day.)

Wikipedia defines sabbatical “(from the Hebrew: שַׁבָּת Šabat (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin sabbaticus; Greek: sabbatikos σαββατικός) is a rest or break from work; ‘an extended period of time intentionally spent on something that’s not your routine job.'” A break from the day to day, from the routine provides both space to focus on something specific and a change of rhythm to one’s days which is beneficial all its own. And all of us can look for, and create the opportunity for such breaks even if we don’t get a full year to do something different.

Several years ago a colleague introduced me to a book by Wayne Mueller by the title of Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives. He had given the book to everyone participating in a weeklong institute he was directing. He learned later that several people had assumed it was religious and hadn’t looked at it. The book does begin from a Christian perspective but is applicable to anyone with a busy life. The book, and the idea of Sabbath reminds us of the importance of finding space in our lives for not only rest, but renewal and delight. How often do we make times for delight in our lives?

About ten years ago, I set a goal for myself, that I wanted to be able to run a 5K without stopping and suddenly I was running. Okay, I’m really slow. It was glorified jogging, but I loved it. That was unexpected. As I’ve started walking most mornings, I’ve added a bit of jogging back into my morning. And I’m implementing something I learned before – you will ultimately go further, faster, or longer when you plan in rest days. If you lift weights, or swim, or any other athletic skill, you get better at it if you take a break. You’re also less likely to find yourself sidelined by an injury. One of the lessons I have learned, is that no matter how determined and strong-willed we are, if we don’t take care of ourselves, eventually our body will do it for us by stopping us in some way or another.

And it’s just as true for our day to day life as well. Sunday, we got laundry done and I fixed breakfast for Peter, my Mom, and I and that was all I accomplished. I read a novel, watched Olympics and took a nap. I didn’t get up and walk nor did I walk around the house to get in 30 minutes of movement. I didn’t worry about a list of things to do, I had one, I just ignored it. Earlier this month, I skipped four days of walking for a variety of reasons, one of which was I wanted to sleep in a bit. (I have to walk at the crack of dawn, it’s just too sunny and hot for me to do otherwise.)

Now, I know, I don’t have small children or even teenage ones. I don’t have a family member who needs care. This is part of the fun of moving toward retirement. What sabbath/rest looked like twenty years ago was very different, but it was even more critical then to find time to take a break in some way or another.

Here in August as the school year is gearing up with full work schedules for people who work in education and crazy busy schedules for people with active family members, it’s worth taking a moment to create your ‘training plan.’ How will you plan out finding space for yourself to have space for rest, renewal, and delight? How will you help your family and your colleagues find that space as well? What are you teaching those around you about taking care of themselves and each other?

Some time ago, I started using Take Care as my ending to emails. It’s a short hand way to remind people to do just that, take care of themselves. What are you doing to find time to rest, renew and find delight?

Remember to –
Take care,

Gage