The Year of Doing Nothing

Late last year I once again picked up Pema Chodron's book When Things Fall Apart. In the introduction she said that she had the pleasure of producing the book during a year that she was on sabbatical. She begins: "In 1995 I took a sabbatical. For twelve months I essentially did nothing. It was the most spiritually inspiring time of my life. Pretty much all I did was relax. I read and hiked and slept. I cooked and ate, meditated and wrote. I had no schedule, no agenda, and no "shoulds".

I found her words refreshing and extradordinarily tempting. What would happen if I decided to take a sabbatical? What would happen if I dedicated an entire year to doing nothing? One minute I was allowing this delicious thought to dance between my synapses and in the next I was splashdown. It's not possible, I thought. I have a child. I have a partner. I have a Yoga studio to run. There is no way I can drop everything and go on "sabbatical".

I decided to put my doubts on hold and see what comes up next.