And what’s new as a result
At the Sky Lagoon in Iceland, the last 4 days of my sabbatical.
I’ve taken the last month to hide away from my usual responsibilities and focus on nothing but my art. Last year I took a complete dopamine sabbatical for 30 days where everything came off the table - this year I called it a creative sabbatical and it was more about exploring what would happen if I spent 30 days focussed on nothing but a passion project.
It was a completely different experience. I have to say I preferred last year, and here’s why:
Focussing on my art and sorting out my art website, emails, socials and attending calls about doing all of that etc kept me just as busy as I always am - only the content of how I filled my days changed, not the nature of the days themselves. That meant I learned little about myself (but a lot about my art).
Last year, I was made to slow down by my own rules, time stretched and long lazy days of nothing were a balm to my soul. This was weird and unexpected because I normally twitch when forced to sit still for more than 3 minutes.
In that space, new ideas percolated, new projects were born and my family holiday was less and abrupt screeching-to-a-halt of normal life followed by zero-to-one-hundred on the day of return, and more of a continuation of long lazy days, in a different, sunnier location.
This year, I can see the tangible results of being focussed on one project for a prolonged period of time. I have had time to go deep into my art explorations, have created a beautiful body of new work and started to see regular orders of my artwork now I have some proper processes and systems in place. All of which makes my time at the easel even more rewarding.
But there were things I missed, that I’m glad to have back in my diary now September is here.
Time outside in the fresh air. We lost our dog, Digger, this summer. Old age and the heat took their toll, and with him disappeared my daily walk in the woods. This is where my garden comes in. I’ve had a gardener for a while, but I’ve let her go and will have my hands back into my soil with my dog-walking hour spent in the garden instead, bathing in birdsong and heaving big bags of compost around.
My Floral Project Community. I know everyone will have been chatting away and despairing of the relentless heat and sharing their photos of where their flowers have been donated, supported by the two moderators who look after everyone when I’m not there, and I’m looking forward to diving back in there this morning and seeing what I’ve missed.
Driving my daughter to school. Oh, wait, without me realising, my youngest daughter has passed her driving test this summer, and when she starts her new college next week, I am no longer required. The school run, after 20 years, has disappeared from my diary. That makes me happy and sad.
Writing. I have been writing sales pages and emails, but there’s been no space for unfolding my heart onto the page to discover what wants to be heard. This is why I am starting The Writing Room tomorrow. A weekly hour to spend time with the page, alongside others who want to do the same. Well, two hours for me because I’m offering two different time-slots to cater for timezones. If writing is something you already do, but would like to have a regular weekly timeslot in which to do it, or something you’d like to do more of but never seem to find the time, I’d like to invite you to join me before the doors close at 6pm BST today.
All this today, my creative sabbatical was another good experiment for me this year, where the dopamine sabbatical was right for me last year. What looks worth continuing is a month doing life differently than usual each summer - an experiment in living. The flavour of next years’ will no doubt become clear nearer the time.
I invite you to consider what you might get up to for a month, if you were able to set your life up in such a way that you could escape from most of your normal responsibilities. Plenty of time to get ready for next August :)
Until next time,
Nic x