Time for Time Away
by Michael Cervin
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We all need time away. Time to rest, relax and rejuvenate. That's what vacations are for, right? Though vacations are built into the work year, few people come away from them truly refreshed and centered. Often my vacations have actually been exhausting. After all, there's so much to see and do. What might be needed instead is a sabbatical or retreat time.
I have been taking a sabbatical for years, not in the traditional sense of months, but usually four to five days. This is time away from my geographic location, away from my wife, work, home and daily challenges. The result is a time of stimulation, focus and clarity of thought about myself and my world. Sabbatical is not in lieu of a vacation, but in addition to it. At first my wife didn't understand the idea and she took it personally that I would go away without her. Eventually she saw the important role it played in spurring mature growth. I explained that it wasn't a vacation, it was in a sense, work.
It's work to stay focused and turn attention inward for several days. Time away is imperative, but it needs to be productive, otherwise it becomes a blur of days where nothing changes. I give structure to my sabbatical: time for writing, exercise, thinking, meditating and just being. Perhaps four or five days might seem overwhelming. Years ago I started by taking “half days” and would drive to the mountains for a few hours to be alone and compose myself. I would close my eyes and identify the sounds around me. Soon, the songs of various birds, or the different pitches of the wind would become clear. I would sit quietly and watch an insect, watch the sunset, smell the trees and lose time. It was then that I could be honest with myself. Sabbatical afforded me the time to go inward without interruption, which can be scary. Often times I'd have to face the reality of my prejudices and thoughtlessness. However, I got in touch with deeper emotional and spirit based issues. Time away afforded me time to think.
My sabbaticals are at the ocean; someone else might prefer the mountains. I stay at inexpensive hotels and I go away in early February to get prepared for the year ahead. Others may choose a more structured sabbatical under the guidance of a teacher. At the Camaldoli Hermitage retreat near Big Sur, Father Ranerio Hoffman said, “Our lives are so busy, so fast-paced, we're always looking for meaning. I think the ultimate meaning and purpose is deep within us and that's what people get in touch with when they come here. Stopping and slowing down opens their consciousness to the gift within.”
The point is to purposefully make time, to be good to yourself and not feel guilty about it. It's not an avoidance of problems (they'll be waiting for you when you get back) but a chance to discover new ways of dealing with them. There is no time frame in which anything needs to be accomplished either. In fact, time becomes irrelevant.
Tracey Rich, co-founder of the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara views sabbatical as an opportunity to renew oneself. "People come to White Lotus because of sensory overloads that force them into achieving goals." That's true with our media driven society. As Rich puts it, we need time to "foster and nurture ourselves, to intentionally put ourselves in nature." White Lotus offers retreats from one to five days and includes vegetarian meals, lodging and yoga.
“We've become so uninvolved with ourselves,” Rich said. We're out of touch with core emotions because we have schedules to keep. Rich also sees the "virgin revelatory experience" that people have when they begin to detoxify. A sabbatical is sanctuary, a time to regenerate our body, mind and spirit, which tends to atrophy when battered by the constant demands of an unforgiving world. It was ironic that, when speaking with Rich on the phone, my cell phone dropped the call (I was sitting in a parking lot trying to interview her and eat at the same time). I rang her back and she mentioned, “That's the other great reason for a sabbatical, no cell phones.” I too sometimes loose my focus.
Time away reminds us that we don't live in a vacuum, we share the planet with a host of other beings and we need to be aware of our surroundings and understand our motivations for the things we do. My sabbatical is not only crucial, it's beginning to have an effect on those around me, as others begin to yearn for a place of peace, a retreat into a deeper level of living.
Michael Cervin is a freelance writer based in Santa Barbara. For more of his work go to www.michaelcervin.com.