Choosing a Sabbatical Year

How I came to the decision to follow my curiosity for a year

I left my job at the end of October 2025 without much of a plan for what would come next. I quit because I no longer felt like myself. My natural passion for Product was replaced by an increasing dose of Lexapro. My creativity was not being sparked. I felt deeply depressed, constantly anxious, and desperate for something to change. Things had gotten out of control and I needed to regain the agency I once had.

Unfortunately, my story is common. Within my social and professional circles, more people are feeling this way than not. It seems to be the norm to love our work, but when practiced in the context of our jobs, our passions for the work are lost and our purpose becomes a mystery. We forget why we are killing ourselves in order to do work we supposedly love, when we definitely do not love the day-to-day.

Today, two months after leaving my job, the haze of the last couple years is finally clearing. I feel energy coming back for creative thinking and experimentation, as well as product and business ideation and daydreaming. I’m beginning to feel like me again. When I feel that spark of me, it physically brings a smile to my face - “Oh, hey there, friend! I forgot how silly/playful/fun/creative/courageous you are!”

I spent years - 25 years, to be exact - knowing that I was slowly suffocating myself, but doing what I had to do to acquire and accomplish what my over-achieving brain told me, defiantly, that it needed and deserved. My determination slowly shifted from being the source of my power to being my vice. I was (still am) a voracious reader of self-help books and consumer of endless podcasts that promise healing through an innovative framework for uncovering my creative spirit, knowing and leaning into my strengths, finding the color of my parachute, turning a side hustle into a full-time job, getting promoted, rising to the top of my profession, being more productive… and on and on and on and on.

In those 25 years, I did all of these things with commitment, focus, dedication, and conviction. But what I never did was step away from everything. Like, really - just let it go. It was unconscionable for me to accept that my products would launch, my status updates would be communicated, or my team would know how to get through the next obstacle without me. A vacation was just a temporary pause on the madness, but when you are working full-time, the low-grade pressure never relents - not even when you’re on vacation. And because leaving my job was never a financial or practical possibility, I soldiered on, convinced that I was doing the best I could. Of course I was! We all are. Really!

But in the last couple years, a series of significant events made my grind no longer acceptable. A divorce, a hysterectomy, a successful promotion, a cross-country move, a failed promotion, a terminal illness diagnosis for a close family member, new friendships, dating apps, the sagging of my Ironman-fit body, and my 50th birthday looming around the corner. One challenge on top of the next forced me to confront the one thing I was trying to avoid — this life, as I know it, is not working for me.

With the blessing of my financial advisor and a newfound confidence that developed as I watched myself tackle one challenge after another, I quit my job and declared that I am taking a year off.

It is a privilege - a complete luxury - to be able to take a sabbatical year. And for that, I do not regret one minute of the last 25 years that brought me to this place. During that time, I developed my independence as well as the tangible savings that is providing me with security and freedom over the next year. I am so proud to proclaim that, through the challenges I just mentioned and many others, I made this happen.

Cool. Now what?

Over the last couple months, I’ve been able to answer that question with a clarity of mind that I never had. With this clarity, I settled on my word for 2026: Forge.

• Forge my path

• Forge my creativity

• Forge my community

• Forge my career

For the next four months, I’ll be following my curiosity all the way to the other side of planet Earth. I’ll be headed to Costa Rica, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. I’ll be writing, reading, drawing, and painting. I’ll be volunteering with elephants who are abused from their own grind in the tourism industry. I’ll be snorkeling and learning to surf. I’ll be learning about the rainforest, wildlife, limestone caves, and Buddha. I’ll be immersed in food, art, and culture from a part of the world that has enchanted me since I was a little girl. I’ll be meeting other solo travelers and, hopefully, finding peace and solace in all of the parts of travel that are tiring, terrifying, annoying, difficult, and out of my control.

After the wintering has passed and new possibilities of Spring are popping up, I’ll be ready to forge ahead into the next phase of my career. I am looking forward to reconnecting with my professional self and network with a fresh perspective and untapped creativity.

Image created with Midjourney