A lot of you have been asking what I am doing in my year of career sabbatical? And what is a sabbatical in the first place?
Sab·bat·i·cal
[suh-bat-i-kuhl] –adjective
1. of or pertaining or appropriate to the Sabbath.
2. (lowercase) of or pertaining to a sabbatical year.
3. (lowercase) bringing a period of rest. –noun
4. (lowercase) sabbatical year.
5. (lowercase) any extended period of leave from one’s customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.
Also, Sab·bat·ic.
So what is a sabbatical for me? I have researched this at great length and for me the most relevant is point five above:
‘any extended period of leave from one’s customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.’
Some got the impression that I was taking a gap year in a student way. This was the last thing on my mind. From the beginning my sabbatical has been about finding myself in the real world and not loosing myself on holiday, an important distinction. And [for me] it is not a veneered ruse to have a baby. Sometimes people’s opinions of what it is to go on sabbatical tells you more about the person you are confiding in than of yourself. Which was an unexpected and interesting aspect of sharing my plans. Work wise there was disbelief, disgust, jealousy, curiosity, sly put downs, admiration and desperate attempts to stop my plans, but I had opened Pandora’s Box and there was no going back. I still get very varied responses, even well into the year now. I think that a few thought that it would never happen, that it was all talk, as I work ferociously and some have had trouble picturing me taking a ‘year out’ of work, clearly misunderstanding the fact that I was not taking a year to do literally nothing. How could I possibly fill all that time they mused. I see the year as I do any other decision I have made to forge positive paths for my future. From the leap I took to move to London, to applying to one the most oversubscribed Masters degrees in the country, one thing that is common to all these is that they have all been successes. When I put my mind to something, it gets done.
When I made the decision to take a career sabbatical it was after years of working in fashion, art, photography and later web design and branding. I had spent most of 2010 trying to focus my work portfolio and consolidate it in a more cohesive way. The way I was working was certainly fun, engaging and challenging, though not necessarily challenging in the right ways. Spreading myself so thin for so many years left me with a feeling that I wasn’t really achieving anything in particular that I could look back and be proud of, yet I had learnt a great deal of skills creatively, not to be sniffed at by any means. A confusing dichotomy. I know I am not alone in this feeling. I had learnt new skills essential to a contemporary digital life, could put my hand to an advanced degree in many creative endeavours. What I later realised on a personal level is that I had been missing the point and this is what directly led me to make my next life changing decision. I have worked without break from the age of 16, even whilst studying; creatively adapting in the dark to survive, ignoring my some of my most important instinctive ambitions through conditioning, fear and lack of obvious opportunities, so they were put aside in favour of seemingly more pressing matters. The most surprising thing was that as soon as I had made the decision to take a year long sabbatical, even though its official beginning was months away, the effect was immediate. A huge weight I had been carrying throughout my life had been lifted, one that I had not even known was there until it was gone. Suddenly it was alright to say no to work that wasn’t right, suddenly many other things happened in my life just by the act of deciding the next years fate alone. It all felt right, I had made major progress immediately in areas I had been struggling with for years. An unforeseen but pleasurable occurrence. I was excited for the future, wherever the journey may take me.
I have written down a brief plan for my years adventure below so that you can see how I have structured my time.
First Quarter 2011 Catching up with myself. . .
Closing some (though crucially not all) doors on my old life, old me & work. Research, reading, reflection & a little rest & relaxation.
Second Quarter 2011 Brave new me. . .
Blowing out old cobwebs, being true/honest to myself & the world, actioning discoveries made so far, creating strength (physically, emotionally, & philosophically), planning my creative anthology book, making plans to action ambitions with training, networking & travel.
Third Quarter 2011 Play. . .
Going with the flow, experimenting/exploring & focusing creatively within my new ambitions, practising being my fresh identity.
Fourth Quarter 2011 Opening doors. . .
Making opportunities, getting my new creative self out into the wider world.
2012 & the Future Becoming world class. . .
The story continues. . .
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Sabbatical 2011
A lot of you have been asking what I am doing in my year of career sabbatical? And what is a sabbatical in the first place?
Sab·bat·i·cal
[suh-bat-i-kuhl]
–adjective
1. of or pertaining or appropriate to the Sabbath.
2. (lowercase) of or pertaining to a sabbatical year.
3. (lowercase) bringing a period of rest.
–noun
4. (lowercase) sabbatical year.
5. (lowercase) any extended period of leave from one’s customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.
Also, Sab·bat·ic.
Origin:
1605–15; < Greek sabbatikós ( sábbat ( on ) Sabbath + -ikos -ic) + -al1
Source: dictionary.reference.com
So what is a sabbatical for me? I have researched this at great length and for me the most relevant is point five above:
‘any extended period of leave from one’s customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.’
Some got the impression that I was taking a gap year in a student way. This was the last thing on my mind. From the beginning my sabbatical has been about finding myself in the real world and not loosing myself on holiday, an important distinction. And [for me] it is not a veneered ruse to have a baby. Sometimes people’s opinions of what it is to go on sabbatical tells you more about the person you are confiding in than of yourself. Which was an unexpected and interesting aspect of sharing my plans. Work wise there was disbelief, disgust, jealousy, curiosity, sly put downs, admiration and desperate attempts to stop my plans, but I had opened Pandora’s Box and there was no going back. I still get very varied responses, even well into the year now. I think that a few thought that it would never happen, that it was all talk, as I work ferociously and some have had trouble picturing me taking a ‘year out’ of work, clearly misunderstanding the fact that I was not taking a year to do literally nothing. How could I possibly fill all that time they mused. I see the year as I do any other decision I have made to forge positive paths for my future. From the leap I took to move to London, to applying to one the most oversubscribed Masters degrees in the country, one thing that is common to all these is that they have all been successes. When I put my mind to something, it gets done.
When I made the decision to take a career sabbatical it was after years of working in fashion, art, photography and later web design and branding. I had spent most of 2010 trying to focus my work portfolio and consolidate it in a more cohesive way. The way I was working was certainly fun, engaging and challenging, though not necessarily challenging in the right ways. Spreading myself so thin for so many years left me with a feeling that I wasn’t really achieving anything in particular that I could look back and be proud of, yet I had learnt a great deal of skills creatively, not to be sniffed at by any means. A confusing dichotomy. I know I am not alone in this feeling. I had learnt new skills essential to a contemporary digital life, could put my hand to an advanced degree in many creative endeavours. What I later realised on a personal level is that I had been missing the point and this is what directly led me to make my next life changing decision. I have worked without break from the age of 16, even whilst studying; creatively adapting in the dark to survive, ignoring my some of my most important instinctive ambitions through conditioning, fear and lack of obvious opportunities, so they were put aside in favour of seemingly more pressing matters. The most surprising thing was that as soon as I had made the decision to take a year long sabbatical, even though its official beginning was months away, the effect was immediate. A huge weight I had been carrying throughout my life had been lifted, one that I had not even known was there until it was gone. Suddenly it was alright to say no to work that wasn’t right, suddenly many other things happened in my life just by the act of deciding the next years fate alone. It all felt right, I had made major progress immediately in areas I had been struggling with for years. An unforeseen but pleasurable occurrence. I was excited for the future, wherever the journey may take me.
I have written down a brief plan for my years adventure below so that you can see how I have structured my time.
First Quarter 2011
Catching up with myself. . .
Closing some (though crucially not all) doors on my old life, old me & work. Research, reading, reflection & a little rest & relaxation.
Second Quarter 2011
Brave new me. . .
Blowing out old cobwebs, being true/honest to myself & the world, actioning discoveries made so far, creating strength (physically, emotionally, & philosophically), planning my creative anthology book, making plans to action ambitions with training, networking & travel.
Third Quarter 2011
Play. . .
Going with the flow, experimenting/exploring & focusing creatively within my new ambitions, practising being my fresh identity.
Fourth Quarter 2011
Opening doors. . .
Making opportunities, getting my new creative self out into the wider world.
2012 & the Future
Becoming world class. . .
The story continues. . .