Finding joy: Sabbatical

Counting down -- less than 30 days until it begins...

It's been a busy month on the road -- and I am halfway through blogs about my trips to Dublin and Sedona.  But all of this writing about travel is just making me even more excited about my upcoming sabbatical, three whole months off from work with no responsibilities.  And I feel like a kid waiting for summer vacation.

I'm not sure when the sabbatical idea first hit me, but last summer I was feeling tired and a little burned out.  I felt terrible about it.  I didn't know what I was doing wrong, but after talking to a few other folks, I realized that I was just in need of a break and that there was a chance that it might happen.

Okay, so, I know I have some new(er) readers, so I'll just throw out the disclaimer as I'm supposed to do.  I am a Googler.  This means that I work at pretty much the coolest place ever.  And, as this is my personal blog, these are my views and my views alone and do not represent those of my employer, Google, Inc.

Much better.

People ask me all of the time what it's like to work at Google.  To sum it up in a word, it's awesome.  I love my job because I get to make a positive impact on the lives of other people. It's taken me to other continents and introduced me to people around the world, and has let me build a deep connection with local colleagues too.  And, after almost seven years, it's worn me out.  You know that feeling where you want to work and work and work and not stop because you've found your calling?  Yeah, that's me.  And it's led me to run a marathon at a sprinter's pace.

The thing is, working at Google has been one of the most formative experiences of my life because it has taught me that I really can do anything I put my mind to.  In fact, I've been so successful at it that I've managed to lose touch with other parts of myself that are equally as important.  But the events of the last year or so have made me re-evaluate what is important to me, thus the sabbatical.

Ironically I've been a little busy which has made planning difficult, which is probably a good lesson for me.  But I have some rough plans, and every time I think about them, I get a little bit giddy.  For the twelve weeks that I'll be off, I have about six of those set aside for travel.  In July, I'm heading to Yellowstone, the beach, and the NE.  August is more or less travel-free, but I'll be in Europe for three weeks in September (right now Portugal, Spain, France, and the Netherlands).  Each of these trips will be special for a different reason, but any opportunity to see the world? I'll take it!

I have a lot of ideas for the rest of my time.  Right now I'm most excited about more time at the piano -- I've been learning a lot of Chopin and there are a few that I'm dying to master.  I have two books I want to work on, and I want to digitize my huge recipe collection (and add some new ones in the process).  I'm learning Spanish (by learning, I mean I have the desire to learn it) and I have a sense I can fit a little Rosetta Stone in too.  I want to stay active, both through all of the activities I love and also through a few new ones -- days filled with running, hiking, yoga, and kickboxing seem to be in the near future.  And I have high hopes that I'll be able to grow some nice things in the garden.

Right.  So this is why I really need a sabbatical -- to find that right balance for myself, which sounds cliche.  Sometimes cliches are true, though, and I'm just struck that there are so many young professionals are likely in a similar place but lack the opportunity to step back like I have.

So with the countdown clock started, I'm increasingly filled with joy at the thought of twelve delicious weeks to myself :)

xo
Sarah