Sabbatical Weeks 1-2
May 1-2 – The very start of sabbatical came with unexpected sadness. A supportive scaffolding had suddenly been removed from my life – the structural support of a daily routine, a state of mind: setting plans for the day, hustling through emails, to-do lists, crypto stats, solving customer support issues, writing proposals, doing video calls. What is left after all that busy-ness is yanked out? I felt oddly formless, void, hollow.
May 3 – The grieving soon subsided. It was replaced by a few signs of a new life – weeding in the garden, taking my time at errands, online Greek lessons. At the same time, some weariness kicked in and I began to crave naps every afternoon.
May 3-7 – The tapering of work began. I worked 3-4 hours per day this week instead of the usual 7-9+ hours. Anna was away at a conference in Vancouver, so it was a different kind of hustle – making school lunches, monitoring after-school playdates, shuttling the girls to dance classes, attempting to cook food my kids would eat.
May 8-12 – I tapered further to 2-3 hours per day and finished up the last of my meetings and projects. This was a relief, and Anna noticed the difference in my mood. The pace slowed down a bit, but work time was replaced by trip planning time and the days remained full.
