In Praise of the Mini-Sabbatical

1985. Europe. That was the last time I took a month off to wander around the planet. My girlfriend and I had just graduated from Wharton. It was so far before cellphones and email that when both of our prospective employers tried to contact us to tell us the divisions that hired us—two different companies—had each collapsed, neither could reach us.

Instead, we showed up for work eager and uplifted, only to discover we both needed to find another job.

I'm hoping this mini-sabbatical turns out better.

This will be the last Mountain Minute newsletter I share for about four weeks. It's time to wander again through Europe.

Why has it taken me so long to book another extended break? I don't know.

The truth is I don't work that hard, but I always work. Even last winter, when we drove from Vermont to Washington via Texas, I worked every week.

This trip mainly came about due to my fear of being a hypocrite. I believe that we gain perspective and insight by stepping away from our work, but I haven't been doing it.

For that reason, I'm not even bringing my laptop to Europe. (My hands shake as I type those words.). No work. Period.

I have, however, invested a lot of time and thought into my notebook selection. I hope to write a great deal, with a pen, as we wander aimlessly. I have put together a new, lightweight notebook with dozens of thoughts and prompts to ponder in my new state of mind. These are ideas that have been percolating for quite a while, in some cases over 20 years. I'm curious to see what my heart, mind and soul do with them once I step away from the screen.

To be clear, when I say "write", I mean fiction, random thoughts, downloads from the Universe and whatever else pops up. Not client work. Not newsletters. Just things that inspire me.

(BTW, I am aware that this is a particularly American post and that many readers routinely take a longer break.)

See you on the other side.

In the meantime, you may wish to check out content from one of my other three newsletters. The first one, Meditate for Peace, is brand new and embodies my aspiration to form a community of at least 100,000 people who meditate daily for peace, both inside yourself as well as in the world. As of this morning, we are over one-third of the way to that goal.