While time away can refresh us, we may be challenged to re-enter our routines. Amy Davis Abdallah shares how she navigated her way back to productivity after a sabbatical even when she didn’t really want to.
Elisa
Practicing Rituals When Seasons of Life Change
by Amy F. Davis Abdallah, PhD
I had a sabbatical once, and it was amazing. It was an entire semester spent not teaching. I wrote (a lot), traveled, and had new experiences.
When it came time to teach again, I was grumpy. I love teaching, but there was something inside of me clinging desperately to the sabbatical, and I had no desire to go back to the classroom. I wanted to transition well, but transitions have always been a challenge for me.
So, I tried a ritual to help my transition. I wrote down everything great about the sabbatical in two categories: what I got to keep and what I needed to leave behind.
Then I bought some candles and set them on an outdoor table. My friend and I sat there on a warm August evening by the shore. I breathed deeply and lit the tall, wide sabbatical candle.
I lit the medium-sized white glass votives from the sabbatical flame, naming and savoring the joy of what I will keep from the sabbatical—such as learning to love aloneness and learning to write well. I placed them so that they encircled the sabbatical candle with their warm flames.
I smiled again and lit the small red tea lights from the sabbatical flame; they formed the outer circle. Each represented what I am leaving behind—like traveling more and having a flexible schedule.
I wanted to savor all of it. My heart rebelled against the next step, the one where I blew out the candles that represented what I am leaving behind. I knew deeply that the physical act of extinguishing is a profound letting go. I breathed deeply again, overcame my resistance, and one by one I extinguished and let go. My friend prayed for me, and we both headed home.
The next day—believe it or not—I could not wait to teach.
The previous eight months had formed me, and this simple ritual had transformed me. I thought through what I needed, prepared a ritual, spoke my joys to the flames, and physically extinguished candles. In doing so, I emotionally let go.
Rituals transform. Rituals have transformed me, and I have watched rituals transform others. The transformative power of ritual is available to all of us.
Adapted from Amy F. Davis Abdallah, Meaning in the Moment, Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group, ©2023, Used by permission.
Amy F. Davis Abdallah (PhD, Drew University) served as professor of practical theology and worship at Alliance University for more than two decades. She is now a professor at the Institute for Worship Studies. Her most recent book is Meaning in the Moment. She is also the author of The Book of Womanhood. She is the founder and director of Woman: A Rite of Passage and a frequent speaker. Her work has been featured in Christianity Today, Missio Alliance, and CBE International, and she has spoken at the Missio Alliance Awakenings Gathering and the North American Academy of Liturgy. She lives with her husband and two sons in Sparkill, New York.
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