Bandon, Oregon
Would you believe the happiest people in the world if they revealed their prescription for happiness? Most Americans don’t.
Because you read the New Spirit Journal, you already know more money and longer work weeks lead nowhere.
The happiest people in the world take six weeks of vacation per year. On average Americans take 8 to 16 days/year. To be happier, figure out how to get six weeks off. Then take them.
I give myself ten weeks of sabbatical a year and eschew vacations. I established this practice because I did believe the research, and I was tired of burning out as a body therapist and life coach.
Why no vacations? Simple. Vacations place too much demand on you to have fun, too many things to accomplish in the limited time, too many expectations to achieve something that will make the Jones’s wince.
Sabbaticals, on the other hand, invite you to connect with Spirit. Sabbaticals allow for rest and renewal. Can you live creatively when you work 60-hour weeks year-round? Most can’t. Just as the land must remain fallow every seven years, your mind and soul need rest.
Here’s a tip: Because much of the value of time off comes from your creating plans and the pleasure in your anticipation, take one week or two week breaks instead of one longer sabbatical. This can double the happiness benefits of your time off. Obviously, do what works for you.
Some people live scheduled lives when they work. Others have a more varied life. Some like to keep things open. Some like structure. Let your sabbatical reflect this desire for openness or structure. Choose what will generate the most pleasure and least stress.
I like to take walkabouts.
On a walkabout, you move into nature and follow your heart’s calling. For me, this means, getting in a car and driving with no particular aim except to discover the sacred in some way. Predictably, this puts me into wild places, often in national parks.
These walkabouts have led me magical places which have now become destinations for pilgrimage.
Bandon, Oregon came to me this way. The Redwoods of Northern California called me. I heard and drove south. On the way, I discovered Bandon: extraordinary sea stacks, living monoliths on the Pacific coast that conversed with me for days. It became a destination for pilgrimage and a spiritual home for our daughter, Sasha.
Avebury, a massive stone circle in England, became another such destination and the spiritual home for my beloved, Suzanne. Kona, Hawaii became such a place for our daughter, Zoe and her husband, Kevin.
Recently, a walkabout through eastern Washington led me to Swakane Canyon on the Columbia River, just north of Wenatchee, Washington. It has become one of my spiritual homes. I have drawn and painted it. I created a short video of it. As I write this, I’m heading off on a walkabout that will include a pilgrimage to the canyon.
In contrast to having no plans, I like to eat breakfast in a nice place at the same time in the morning, and take naps at the same time every afternoon. And get up at first light for a walkabout, watching and participating in the unfolding magic of life.
Over the years, I have arrived at what works for me.
Whatever style of time off works for you, believe the experts: claim your six weeks and create time off that works for you.
Walk in beauty.
