Sabbatical

Sabbatical - A break or change from a normal routine (Miriam Webster Online Dictionary)

Rest, repose, leave, vacation, liberty, holiday … when I was working as a full time designer one of my art directors commented she had never seen a designer explore words from the dictionary to generate ideas. I’m not sure if that was a good thing or not – but it worked for me. I love words and when I run across a well crafted sentence with perfectly selected words, I am in awe and envious at the same time.

So my old habit resurfaced in writing this entry. It has been just over 2 weeks since my last entry – not exactly staying on that “entry a day” track I’d hoped. And with gentle nudging from my mom (it appears no matter how old you are your mom can still wield some power with only a comment), and a quiet house I’ve sat down once more to continue this blogging journey.

The break from our normal routine was a good thing. We headed to Saipan for part of Spring Break and the time away from our daily grind was good my soul. We enjoyed fabulous weather, way too much good food, beautiful scenery and good times in the water. The down side is that vacation breaks the rhythm of our daily lives and it always seems like it takes me at least a couple of weeks before I can get back in the groove. But I think I’m finally there – I’ve picked up the book I was reading while in Saipan and leafed through my notes. It’s called Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman and I ordered it after was mentioned in A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink. Just in case my friends and family (the 2 that actually read this blog!) start to worry – no I’m not depressed. Yes, I’m happy here in Japan. But I was curious, curious why some people no matter what seem to always be happy, while others more like me have good days and bad. Many more good thankfully, but I wondered how can you make the bad days good? What’s the secret to happiness?

Authentic Happiness has been thought provoking. According to the author there are four kinds of savoring (that directly relates to your levels of happiness) and I realized while reading the descriptions that perhaps that’s why vacations can be so good for the soul – if you let them, all four areas are touched on during a sabbatical - basking, thanksgiving, marveling and luxuriating. So while I was sitting out on the balcony in the wee morning hours, with my hot cup of coffee, while the rest of my family (and it appeared the resort) slept – I enjoyed my read and realized yet again, that there’s much around us that’s inspiring. Sometimes it’s a book that’s been sitting on your bedside table for months, hoping to get a chance to read, and at the last minute you throw it in your carry on bag – only to realize later that it may have just rocked your world and made you think about things in a whole new light. Now that’s inspiring.