Sarah Goelitz: What I did during my sabbatical

When I started my sabbatical in November 2021, I had a tidy plan: 3 months to rest and reset, followed by 3 months of charting my next step. I figured by April or May, I’d be well on my way to executing my amazing plan for the next chapter of my life.

For the first three months, that plan worked out great. My husband and I were being careful during the winter Covid wave, so there was no travel or big social events, like I would have planned during a non-Covid sabbatical. Instead, I watched a lot of movies with zero guilt. (Sabbatical accomplishment #1: pick an actor and watch your way through his entire portfolio.) I worked on renovating a cabin in the mountains – which might not be restful for everyone, but felt cathartic and refreshing for me after years spent staring at screens and joining Zoom meetings. I learned how to install wood-paneled walls. I disassembled vintage kitchen cabinets from a friend’s house and reassembled them in the cabin’s new kitchen, then learned how to build new cabinets to match the vintage ones. (Sabbatical accomplishment #2: become a cabinet maker.) I took care of myself: worked out a lot, went for long runs in the mountains, learned how to comfortably hike in 20-degree weather. (Sabbatical accomplishment #3: use an outdoor porta-potty at 18 degrees without dying.) I read books just for fun, not for personal improvement. And, I did a lot of reflecting: processing my experiences at work, celebrating the steps I’d taken, reflecting on what I’d learned and how my experiences would inform my values and decisions going forward. There was a lot of journaling and talking with good friends.

Then, life started throwing curveballs.

My husband got very sick and started a challenging round of treatment, and needed a lot of care.

I learned that I needed major surgery, and my best option was a hospital halfway across the country.* There were a lot of doctor’s appointments and putting meals in my freezer for my future self. Surgery happened in the spring and it went well, thankfully! And, it took until July for me to recover enough to be physically or mentally productive.

Then, based on all that reflection we’d been doing, my husband and I decided to move. It felt sudden, but in reality was a long time coming. So, I quickly updated our home, put it on the market, Marie Kondo’d our stuff, packed, hired movers, unpacked, and started learning my way around a new grocery store.

Somewhere in there, sabbatical ended. 

Now, I’m going back to work by taking the first steps to start a venture of my own. It’s exciting, and terrifying, the way our wildest dreams tend to be. I doubt I’d have the mental space or courage to try, if I hadn’t taken some time first to reset and reflect on what I really wanted out of life. 

I think of my sabbatical as a time of unfolding: unfolding dreams, unfolding healing, unfolding direction that I hadn’t seen coming when I started. That may be one of the scariest things about taking some time off: What if, when you slow down enough to notice, you see ideas or desires you hadn’t seen before? What if reflecting on your life makes you want to change it? What if stepping away uncovers power you didn’t know you had?

From the other side, I can tell you that those things might happen, and it’s definitely worth it. It’s worth it to have your own back. It’s worth it to admit to yourself that you’re scared of changing things, but what you want is worth the fear. It’s worth it to reflect on what really matters to you, whether that’s changing things up or returning to “normal” life with renewed intention.

I’d love to hear what scares you the most about taking a sabbatical. (And I’m already planning my next one.)

*PSA: Uterine fibroids are almost never discussed but happen to a lot of women, including 70% of white women and 90% of black women. If you have these symptoms, talk to a doctor. And, feel free to email me if you want to talk about it.