july sabbatical

 july 2011 

Tomorrow I am embarking on a 'reward' for the past two years of hard work - I'm taking a month-long sabbatical to write.

But more than that. I'm taking time out from the hustle and bustle, the endless barrage of life on the web and the needs of others. I am instead focusing on my own needs. My need to write. My need to rest. My need to reconnect with my dearest family and friends.


I'm also taking time away from the souless blather of everyday 'social commentating' that's just a platform for boredom, attention-seeking and the opportunity to defuse insecurities and anger by lambasting each other. The inane natter going on in many parts of the blogosphere is just soul-depleting. It's all about shocking others, irreverence for irreverence sake (so passé) or how much we can rake out of each others' wallets or souls. The news, the articles, the blather is so paper thin, holes are appearing... but then I guess, what do you expect in 140 characters or less?

Don't get me wrong - I understand the value of twitter and facebook but right now I want more.

I want shaved legs shiny with coco butter cream.

I want to chase the kids over grass that is green.

I want painted toenails and deliberately-formatted curls in my hair.

I want to walk, stretch my limbs and meditate.

I want to cuddle, reminisce, talk face-to-face.

I want to plan, book travel, organise, deconstruct and sort.

I want to read, bake, create, photograph, push my thumbs into soil.

I want to blow the froth off a cappuccino in a sidewalk café that reminds me of Pitigliano.

Essentially, I want to connect with life outside my computer screen. Yes, I want to tap at that keyboard like there's no tomorrow (the words are already tumbling out) but then I want to walk away, back into the Real World for some hefty non-virtual fulfilling.

So, for me, July will be a time of reconnection. There will be no {unncessary} emails, no social networking, no internet surfing. I wonder if I can do it? Friends have said they'll believe it when they see it but I have nothing to prove. It's simply something I need to do. Dare I say it - it's what I want to do.

You may still see a blog post pop up here or there with any spectacular must-reads or must-dos, but other than that, I wish you a gorgeous July, overrunning with all the wonderful things you love to do. I hope you can spend this month reconnecting with your own life - with whom you once were and who you are going to be.

Who will YOU be, come August?

I hope to come back refreshed, recalibrated (with bouncing hair and painted toenails!) and ready to pounce on the next glorious six months, but I also hope to return with a renewed zest for life - because life is just SO good.

Be sure to check back on 1 August to see how my month of reconnection went! I might even have some wonderful news and a month of gorgeous goodies and ideas to share...

 à plus tard!