Out of Office
By LeaderWise Co-Director Drew Benson, PhD, LP
If you need to get in touch with me over the next 6 weeks, don’t be surprised if you don’t hear back. I’ll be away on a sabbatical and, and, if I’m honest, I have to say I’m not totally sure how I feel about it. As I’ve told folks about my time away, some common responses have been, “That’s amazing!” or, “You are so lucky to get that time!” And while that is certainly true (what an incredible gift!), there is a part of taking a sabbatical that doesn’t quite feel right to me. I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of sabbath and, in my reflections, I realized that the last time I had this much space in life without consistent duties or obligations was probably the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. That’s over 3 decades ago! Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’ve had the opportunity to do some amazing things in that time and, for the most part, have found deep joy and meaning in the variety of academic and vocational pursuits in which I have been engaged throughout my life. At the same time, periods of deep rest and relaxation have not seemed to be a significant part of these past 30 or so years. Given that, I’ve found myself wondering lately—what is it that has made sabbath such an unnatural part of my life? You might find yourself pondering something similar from time to time.
As a psychologist, I can certainly attribute some of this to my personality and general approach to life. I am definitely a “what’s next” kind of person. Through the lens of personality theory, I am highly extraverted and also high on openness to experience. As such, I get energy from being with others, from living life at a fairly quick pace, and from engaging in new experiences. The idea of quiet time, of slowing down, of solitude doesn’t sound all that appealing to me. I worry that I would be bored, that I would get restless, and whether I would actually be able to enjoy myself. But then, maybe those things aren’t, or don’t need to be, what sabbath looks like for me. In her book, Sabbath Keeping, Lynne Baab writes that sabbath is, “a day to cease working and relax in God’s care for us.” If I allow myself to approach my sabbatical from this perspective, relaxing into God’s care for me can include time with cherished others, for travel, for engagement in the world—all done with an intentional commitment to cease working. Maybe this is where, either by choice or by circumstance, I’ve gotten tripped up along the way, and maybe the same has been true for you.
How then might I approach the next 6 weeks rooted in that type of intentional commitment to stepping away from work? I’ve appreciated the conversations I’ve had with my clients over the past many weeks. While I know that I am asking a lot of them, I’ve been met with genuine expressions of support and encouragement to take this time and to enjoy it. I love my work and, at the same time, it almost never feels complete. Most weeks, I carry around the struggles and the joys of dozens of people whom I care deeply for. That’s a gift and also bears with it a unique burden. Work doesn’t naturally cease in the way it might for others. That makes both the opportunity to cease working and the intentionality with which I need to do that all the more important. When I present on goal setting during workshops, I often reference a 2015 study by Dr. Gail Matthews, who found that individuals had the most success in meeting their goals when they wrote them down, made a public commitment, and had accountability partners. So, I am saying it to all of you: I commit to not work from July 7 to August 15. During this time, I look forward to relaxing into God’s care for me and trusting that my clients and colleagues will find what they need while I am away. I wish you all well this summer, and I look forward to reporting back on my sabbatical experiment when I return to work next month.
