Practically a quarter of all companies in the UK have a career break policy. There’s good sense too, I feel, in taking mini sabbaticals (of say, 2-3 months every 2 years, throughout a lifetime) instead of waiting for the provocation of career burnout after umpteen years of non-stop career worship. It’s time that should be seen as both sacred and vital for recharging one’s proverbial batteries to return to the workplace like an Energised Bunny.
After 13 years of copywriting I’m taking a well-earned break. It’s official: I’m on sabbatical.
I’d like to give some added street cred to the concept while examining its origins. From the Greek, ‘sabbatikos’ and Hebrew ‘Shabbat’, meaning ‘of the sabbath’, a sabbatical is a year’s absence (normally one year in every seven) traditionally granted to academics or professors at university institutions.
In pagan times, the days of the week were dedicated to the sun, moon and five planets visible to the naked eye, indicating qualities of time. Sunday was the first day of the week, with Saturday, called Saturn Day by the Romans, the last. Being the planet with the slowest orbit, Saturday ended the week on a chilled note and was the day for reaping the rewards of the week’s endeavours through refreshment and relaxation.
The term sabbatical, rooted in religion, came to be used in the sense of an academic gap year only by the late 16th century. The concept piggy-backed onto Mosaic Law (the Laws of Moses), among which was a holy decree that every seventh year the land should remain untilled. So the Mosaic sabbatical was all about a wilful slowing down, leaving the land untilled for a full year in the interests of greater fertility. By analogy, taking a gap year affords one time to further develop latent talents.
The Sabbath, as mentioned in Genesis 2:2-3, describes how God rested on the seventh day after the creation of the universe.
Sabbaticals these days are taken by non-academics too and are commonly enjoyed for travel, sports, upskilling or internships, plus humanitarian, community or ecological projects. The cynic might add… or perhaps as psychic rehab to get over male or female menopause?
Recently when someone heard I was self-employed, they wisecracked: ‘So when was the last time you slept with yourself for a raise?’ In similar vein, taking a sabbatical, I guess, is like going on a second honeymoon – but with yourself.
So what’s on my sabbatical plate? I’ve visited Paris and Dubai to look at future copywriting collaborations. After a ‘brush up’ digital photographic course, and having undertaken a sailing course at Saldanha Bay, I will be heading for Europe again next week.
With a friend (the proud owner of a brand new Lagoon 450 catamaran) we take delivery of the boat at la Rochelle on the west coast of France. After sailing across the reputedly stormy Bay of Biscay, around Portugal, through the Straits of Gibraltar into the relatively placid waters of the Mediterranean to the Balearic islands, we will be port-hopping along the Spanish and French Rivieras.
I’ll be nipping across to Montreal, NYC and Buenos Aires before sailing the Greek Isles later in the year, as well as doing an updated Digital Media Marketing course. And, if I can squeeze it in… complete a book either on ancient symbols or sound symbolism.
There’s no intention of hijacking the Thinkspot blog as a gallivanting travelogue. I’m looking forward to being sans cellphone and only plugging into the digital ethers when in port. I promise to keep my blog insights word- and language-oriented.
As the Roman poet Ovid, who lived from 43 BCE to 18 ACE encouraged:
‘Remember to take a rest; a field that lies rested grows a bountiful crop.’
