Since the paper doesn’t print the first week of each year. I too have decided to take a break. Except my gap is going to be longer. A sabbatical in fact. I’ve cleared my schedule of newspaper events, and other organizations I’m associated with. They are off my calendar. Essentially, I need some time to just relax. I am really tired, and my health has worsened this year, so something needed to change, and a small non-ER medical event told me I better slow down a bit, at least for a while.
My work-life-activity schedule just got way out of balance, and I’m stepping back from everything for a while. And I mean everything. I’m tired of 3-4 hour naps in my office chair. I had been focusing on everything else but me, and I’ve seen how it has affected other people I know. So hence my decision that I need to slow down. In the first day or two since I’ve made my decision, I slept more hours than I’ve been awake, and still felt drowsy. If I were a Belgian detective, a British doctor would say that I need ‘complete rest and relaxation,’ and the doc would be right.
I’ve always said that the day we die the trash will still need to be taken out. And don’t worry, I’m not dying. I don’t have cancer, again. And I don’t have thoughts of suicide. I just want to wake up in the morning for the time being, have a cup of coffee or tea, look at my schedule, see that there is nothing. And then, if I have an urge, go binge watch something.
I’ve asked other writers for content to help take the pressure off, to keep the paper as interesting as possible, and a few have taken up the challenge, but it’s not enough. And I came to the realization last Thursday morning after my short med episode, burning the candle at both ends, it was just a bit too much. The four, five, or sometimes six thousand words per issue I wrote did take their toll, so I need to step back for a time.
I don’t know how long my rest period will be. It can be three or four months, an average sabbatical, or even longer. It can be shorter too, but it needs to be an appropriate time to recharge, refocus, and feel more confident about my health.
I can’t remember the last time I took some time for myself. It has been years.
I love when someone says to me, “When you walk into a room, it brightens ten fold.” Or when a reader, even outside of the county approaches me and says they love my columns. Each occurrence humbles me to no end, and I’m honored. It keeps me going, but still. At the same time, my motivation to keep readers pleased, is unable to reconcile itself with my body’s need for rest. So a change is needed.
I know that important things and events are happening soon in the county, and I vow to still pound away at what I feel is right based on my experiences and principles, but I have to be alive to do that. So I will take this temporary leave, because history has already decided what is gonna happen.
I don’t know the role I will allow myself when I return. I’m eliminating the all-night writing sessions, which have taken their toll just to finish pieces that I wasn’t able to get my full attention during the previous week. With my medical history, my body needs a reduced rhythm, so I will be more selective in my invitations when I return, as I remember my work-life balance. But when compelled, I may write an OPED or two during my rest time, I just don’t know. My work, especially for the important stories, has more details than other media outlets who just brush over a subject, whether it be the central Montgomery County paper, or online outlets, and so many readers have told me they appreciate it to no end.
For the time being, I’m going to readjust my priorities. Healthen up. Become a man of leisure again. Perhaps take a drink (rarely), eat a hamburger (or perhaps a salad) … or attend a concert or show, and just enjoy it; not feeling compelled to write about it. I’m gonna try and go on a walkabout and explore other opportunities for a while. I might entertain some offers that have been building up. Who knows what the future holds.