Last you actually heard from me, I was preparing for my month-of-August sabbatical. It’s been a long, long magnificent year. In just a few weeks, to the moon and back will celebrate its first anniversary.
Again, it’s been a long, long magnificent year – full of conversations I never thought I’d have, connection with strangers (and friends) in deeper ways than I ever thought possible, reconnection with people I never thought I’d see again, and realizations that have blown me away.
It’s been quite a year.
And while it’s the thirteenth year that I’ve taken my month-of-August sabbatical, I will admit (and this probably won’t surprise anyone who knows me well) that I often don’t fully take sabbatical and STOP WORKING during my sabbatical. I may not speak with clients, and I may not monitor (or answer) my emails, but in the past, I’ve used my August to clean up files and folders and to get ahead on my writing and to catch up on my reading…you get the idea.
This year was different. The first week was only about college visits. (Yes, my younger child is now a senior in high school. What is it they say? The days are long and the years are way way way too short.)
The second two weeks were about nothing. Really nothing. Well, maybe not absolutely nothing, because they were actually about re-reading Harry Potter practically nonstop.
It was exactly what I needed.
I’d read it before – first with one child and then with the other. This time I read it all for myself. This August, I spent many, many, many hours lying on the daybed on my side porch (many people know how much I LOVE my side porch) or in the hammock my older child gave me a few years back, devouring Harry Potter.
Damn, is it a good story.
And damn, spending my August delighting in this story is the life-changing action that worked to heal and fuel my soul.
People who know me know that I very rarely do nothing. Even when I sit and do nothing, like when I meditate, it is never really nothing. One of my good and bad traits is that I work hard, push hard, and aim for nothing less than excellence. (Again, my brother once told me that I even try to do not-perfect perfectly.) For me to allow myself to accomplish very little, if anything, this summer was a huge accomplishment. 🙂
For me to be able to give myself permission to waste time reading frivolous, wonderful, children’s (young adult?) fantasy was amazing. And I highly recommend it.
I know I’m extremely lucky to be able to take a month off every August. I know I’m extremely lucky to have the time to sit and read, just for the fun of it. I know I’m extremely lucky to have a beautiful side porch and a swinging hammock and the space in my life to do nothing.
I know I’m extremely lucky. And I know that that space, that time off, that walking away from all of my responsibilities and all of the pressure I feel to reach as many people as possible with to the moon and back – that was life-changing. That healed me. That fueled me.
And now I’m back and recharged. Recharged to connect with more of you, to have even deeper and fuller conversations, to spread my messages of hope and love.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, and please share this post with others if it resonates with you!
