I just returned home from a 2-month trip to Colorado. For the last four years, my husband and I have had the good fortune to travel for a couple of months during the summer, escaping the heat and humidity of Houston. The first two years, we traveled in our RV, exploring much of the Pacific Northwest and visiting numerous national parks. This year and last, we mostly stayed put in a small community on the Western slope of Colorado.
Staying in one place for longer was much more relaxing and allowed me to get into new routines and rhythms. One day, I realized this was not a vacation; it had become a sabbatical. I was relaxing and enjoying a slower pace, but also getting a lot done that you might call ‘work’: updating my online course, writing a book, leading a breathwork class, and planning a research project. All of these activities were labors of love I’d spent much time on before, but now that that time was uninterrupted, the ‘work’ became easy and was more enjoyable. I was ‘in the flow.’
I’d never experienced a sabbatical before, so it had taken me some time to realize that’s what this had become. I also had to laugh at myself when I realized I was actually fulfilling a wish I’d had many years before when planning a 5-week trip to Europe. Wouldn’t it be great, I’d thought, if I could do this every few years? I let that be a lesson to myself about the incredible power of intention.
So I did some research on the history of the sabbatical. The practice can be traced back to the ancient Babylonians, who lived in the area of modern-day Iraq, 4000 to 2500 years ago. The Šabattu (sa-bat) was tied to lunar cycles and associated with appeasing their gods. The Hebrew tradition is more familiar: originating in the word Shabbat, meaning “to cease or rest.” In the Hebrew Bible, the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, set aside for rest and spiritual renewal. Ancient Jewish tradition also included a “sabbatical year,” known as the shmita. Every seventh year, farmland was to lie fallow, debts were forgiven, and the community paused its usual economic activity to restore balance and honor divine order.
More recently, universities and some corporations have adopted the idea of a “sabbatical leave,” an extended period away from regular duties for study, research, travel, or personal renewal. This intention echoes the original concept: to rest from routine work and cultivate growth, replenishing intellectual, spiritual, and creative resources.
It seems that ‘sabbatical’ means many things to many people: rest, religious observance, travel, starting new or different projects and pursuits, and letting go of old ones. It’s not just about ‘taking time off,” but so much more. I believe it has less to do with a particular length of time and more with how that time is spent.
Going back to the history of the Hebrew shmita, the part that is unique to the sabbatical is a change in rhythm. To change a rhythm, you must first take a pause. This pause is tied to letting go of habits and routines. And that’s what leads to all the gifts a sabbatical can bring: forgiveness, restoration, balance, renewal, and growth. And these are the gifts I’m holding onto as I’ve returned home and gotten back into my daily routine.