Sabbatical

A sabbatical is a period of time granted for professional development and spiritual renewal away from normal responsibilities in a manner that is not possible during the busyness of a typical work year. Sabbaticals are not vacations, but carefully planned periods of time devoted to study, reflection, rest, and renewal. They frequently become a path to understanding one’s life in new ways or as a vehicle for a transformed sense of spiritual identity. This is a time to experience more “being” than “doing”; a time of freedom and authenticity. One of the goals of a sabbatical is to return to the congregation renewed and refreshed.

I am now on my second sabbatical. When it was written into my contract all those years ago that I would receive a six-month paid sabbatical leave every seven years, I don't think any of us could foresee my tenure lasting that long! This time around, I have chosen to divide the six months into two three-month periods. I was off March, April, May - back to work June, July, August - and now here we are in the second half. I find it takes several weeks to find a rhythm of more "being", to let go of "to do" lists and schedules, and to do whatever I feel inspired to do on any given day.

In the Spring I took a wonderful online class called "Tempting Techniques" to explore a variety of mixed media techniques. Here is a sample of using alcohol inks on photo paper. The background was created by using a really cool material that looks like a big blue sponge. You heat it up with the heat gun and press textures into it to make a stamp.



For the cover of the book I used some fusion "fabric" that I made from soy silk - a byproduct from processing tofu. Who knew!

So now that I'm figuring out how to post pictures (well...sort of figuring it out), there may be more to come!