Beginnings...

Somewhere on a beautiful walk through Pt. Lobos park yesterday, just south of Monterey and along the Pacific Ocean, I had this idea that I should keep a blog about these next months of my life, which I am intending as sabbatical time. This feels like a precious time, a time to dive deep and pull up some jewels from the muck, a time to lay the foundation for the second half of my life.

I realized that I’ve been working hard at full time jobs over the past seven years (motivated to pay off big credit card and student loan debt). So the timing was really perfect for this sabbatical. I can feel in my bones the wisdom of taking the seventh year as a time of rest and reflection.

The photo above, by the way, is what I see when I look out the bedroom window of the house where I'm staying in Monterey. I'm here through the generosity of my friend Kristi who's offered me a temporary home base for the next month. What a beautiful place to start this sabbatical!

Recently it's occurred to me that I’m taking this time not just for me, but for all beings (that’s the we way talk in Buddhism), and that I am practicing more open space and time for my friends, and friends-yet-to-be-met, who are still mired in the world of busy-ness which only very recently I have been able to step out of.

So, this blog’s for you. For anyone who’s ever wished to be able to step off the wheel of life for just a while, not so much as an escape, but as a way to find what truly has heart and meaning in our lives. I invite you along for the ride… I’m looking forward to sharing big insights and mundane observations with you on this blog.

I'm curious -- have you taken sabbatical time in your lives? If so, what came out of it for you? Leave some comments... I'd love to see this blog be more of a conversation!