Shedding My Skin
My sabbatical was a series of me saying yes to opportunities and offers – which resulted in serendipity & flow
So much of my identity was wrapped up in the accomplishments, the colleagues, the friends, and the experiences I had in my 16 years at Alphabet. So when I left, I had a lot to unravel.
When I described some of the changes I’ve been making in my life, one of my friends commented: “You’re like a snake shedding her skin.”
My sabbatical was a series of experiments. It was an opportunity to try new things, meet new people, travel – but most importantly, come alive in many new ways, in real time, whenever they beckoned. I included this quote in my farewell note to my colleagues, and it continues to resonate with me.
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
― Howard Thurman
Running Experiments on My Sabbatical
- Lived in an intentional community: For two months, I lived in an intentional community of about 80 people in the Santa Cruz mountains. In an era where loneliness is a national epidemic in the US (and other nations), I wanted to experience and learn what it would be like to intentionally choose something different.
- Spent over a month traveling in Japan: I had lived in Tokyo, Japan, previously, and in returning to Japan, I had the opportunity to spend quality time with friends and colleagues who I knew from that time.
- Invested in family & friendships: Spent more time with friends and their children, and traveled to India to visit my extended family. Within the first month after leaving my job, I had two meaningful interactions with women who ended up becoming new (and very dear) friends.
- Canvassed for the 2024 presidential election
- Started therapy with my father
- Co-taught a freshman seminar at UC Berkeley
- Began teaching several mindfulness classes both in person and virtually. I also became a facilitator for GRIP, a one year in-depth journey for incarcerated individuals to understand and transform their violent behavior by using mindfulness and emotional intelligence.
Impacts of the Experimental Sabbatical
What catalyzed the sabbatical?
Someone I knew took one
How long was your sabbatical?
70 weeks
Did HOW you work change at all, post-sabbatical?
Committed to taking significantly more time off
(e.g. 4 day workweek, or summer’s off)
What kind of work did you return to?
Totally different work
Describe any changes you made in your life post-sabbatical:
I’m feeling more optimistic and self-aware, and I intend to continue living with a spirit of experimentation, seeking aliveness as a key to life satisfaction. I continue to work on the meaningful side projects and volunteer work that excited me during my sabbatical, and have taken a position that allows me to do so.
How did your sabbatical experience change the way you thought about your employer?
I had been hearing a voice that maybe it was time to leave my employer for some time: first a whisper, barely audible. Then, conversational. And eventually, a more urgent shout. I finally decided to listen.
Why do you think others should (or shouldn’t) take sabbaticals? Are there occasions in life where it’s particularly helpful?
Our careers are long. Our lives are long. Why wait until retirement or end of life to take stock, reflect, experiment, reconnect with ourselves, and play? Consider whether taking a break now (and perhaps beginning retirement a bit later) might be possible.
In the words of David Whyte, “what you can plan is too small for you to live.” Sabbaticals are an opportunity to deviate from ‘the plan’ – to live even more wholeheartedly, to plan and orchestrate less, to explore whether there is a “more secret, moveable and frighteningly honest world” – and if so, what is to be discovered in that world.
If you feel the urge to take one
You can connect with Anna Davda here.
Want to read another sabbatical story with a hint of experimentation? Start with Bency’s Story.
