Sorry for having to make a change in blogsites, friends. The old voxtropolis (besides being a long address) was temperamental, both in trying to post and for people trying to access it. Besides, this seemed a good time to make a fresh start.
I am a couple weeks from the start of a 3-month sabbatical from work as a pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church, Auburn WA. I take the "short-timing" and other jokes in good stride. Right now, I've got so many loose ends that I want to tie up that I'm having trouble deciding what to do next, prioritizing. There's just not enough time left, and besides this kind of work doesn't tend to allow a person to concentrate on one thing for any length of time... unless (here's something I need to develop) I can learn to set aside a specific day and time to work off-site, without emails, the phone, etc. I've tried several times before, but have quickly allowed "necessary exceptions" to erode and cancel it out. Right now, I'm feeling scattered and am having a hard time concentrating even when I do have time to catch up. Part of it, I think, is precisely because of other things I've been neglecting for the past few years. Sketching, creative writing, running/hiking, fishing, these kinds of activities allow me to concentrate and focus.
Another big part of it is having a three-year-old and baby while sharing the parenting schedule with a full-time working spouse (and minimizing external child-care...$$!) In fact, the both of them are pulling on and crawling all over me as I'm typing this. Obviously, it leaves less time and energy for self-care, which creates a cycle. So, I am grateful for this time to focus on these activities. Besides rest, travel and learning, my larger aim this summer is "sustainability." What I really need is to figure out (practice and maintain) habits that can be sustained after the sabbatical is over.
Enough for now. In the next entry, I may say more about the sabbatical plans, schedule and how they apply to my goals.
