A big break (taking a sabbatical)
My last day at work is this Friday. I'll be embarking on my first official sabbatical.
This is not a formal sabbatical provided by my employer, rather one I'm self-supporting.
Giving myself the permission was one of the hardest parts. There were many reasons in my head to say no:
Will people think I'm just lazy?
Is this really how I want to spend my hard-earned savings?
Will I be able to get a job as good as my current (or at all)?
Not that these fears were wrong. But, they were all internal and not based on any true evidence.
Being able to take a sabbatical is a position of privilege. I am absolutely grateful for being able to make this leap, one I hope will be a peak life experience filled with learning, exploration, and self-discovery.
I'd been circling this ideas for almost a year. I'd read blog posts and books, listened to podcasts, and even talked with several friends who'd taken one. But, even with all this, it wasn't easy to just lean into this chapter of unknown.
During my big time off, I'll be pursuing creative interests I've been neglecting, tinkering with coding projects on the side, and traveling to observe other ways of living.
What the return looks like, I'm not so sure yet, but that is kinda the point.