Sabbatical Sanity

A How-To Guide on Taking a Sabbatical

Hello friend,

The word ‘sabbatical’ comes from the Hebrew ‘sabbath’ and refers to an extended period of time intentionally spent doing something other than your routine job. Once seen as an intellectual and practical necessity, sabbaticals were adopted by Harvard academics in 1880, and policies were designed to aid their rest and recovery, with focus on “attaining advancements in knowledge in vogue elsewhere.”

Present-day non-academics have lovingly hijacked the term to describe various types of breaks from formal employment, and because we - unlike erudite academics - have looser definitions and expectations in our occupations, have created hiatuses ranging in purpose, duration and self-direction.

Recently, I’ve learned about writing hermit crab essays - ones that take the form of of borrowed, non-literary structures. In this post, I share with you how to make the best of your sabbatical, no matter your circumstance, reason or propensity for change, in the form of a how-to article. I hope you enjoy the form, and the voice that was allowed to emerge from it.

Shy little guy, not so shy friends, Khao Sok, Thailand, Mar 2025. Hermits underfoot at dinner, Moalboal, Philippines, Dec 2024.