Ole Lynge Sørensens Blog: Sabbatical

I got a present from eBay this year: sabbatical; four weeks off work, in which I would recharge and get new energy, new ideas and new insights.

Calendar

I considered to go on sabbatical either as an extension of the summer holidays or in the autumn.

If sabbatical was in the summer, it would have given me a summer holiday during the entire school holidays.

If sabbatical was later, it could be in the middle of the period extending from summer holidays in early August and until the Christmas holidays in late December. Sabbatical could be combined with school holiday in week 42. We would also have the opportunity to visit more southerly latitudes in a cooler time of year, with temperatures well below 30 degrees.

The final choice was sabbatical from late September to late October.

Blank

What would I do in sabbatical?

It would be different than the summer holidays.

I would like a few weeks in Italy with the family.

I wanted to be alone for a while. I had an idea to go alone somewhere here in Denmark.

Weekend

I drove home by train. I turned off mail, calendar and messages.

We bought a car; the old had been rejected at inspection. We went for a drive and celebrated sabbatical and having a car again.

We went to the swimming pools and swam in the warm water, and Karoline jumped from tilting out in the deep water.

We played Mancala and "guess who you are."

Bathing bridge

I went to Funen and lived in a lonely house. There were trees and birds and sun and water. There was no television, no wifi, no stereo and no computer. I turned off the phone.

I went down to the beach. I sat on a bench on a bathing bridge. I looked out over the bay.

I walked along the coast, inland, through forests, through fields, past pigs and cows and horses and deer, up to a listed hilltop overlooking the forests and the fields and the sea.

I ran to the eternity trees. Water trickled out of the forest. A squirrel crossed the brook.

I closed my eyes and breathed a hundred times.

I saw past and future flowing together in this moment.

The summer continued into October.

Unrest appeared. I drew a map of the turmoil, and looked at the different areas.

I meditated. Meditation dissolves the world's hustle and bustle, and pulls the veil away from the eternal peace and harmony.

Here I am. Thoughts and turmoil I place in boxes all around me. I'm looking at a box and see it sticking out in several directions. I put the box a little to the side. Here I am, and there are thoughts and unrest.

I visualized. Visualizations heals, and gives answers to my questions, like the oracle who directs my gaze inward into myself to find the answer.

One day it was calm, no wind or water or animal or human was heard. The water was blank, and crabs and starfish slipped silently under me.

I do not worry about what happens.

Italy

We flew to Italy. Karoline and William cheered on their first flight. We rode in a taxi with Joe. We sang "We'll never see Joe again, he is driven to Barcelona."

We lived in Firenze. We saw the city and the bridge and the dome. Karoline and William drove the carousel on the square. We saw the city from the small buses in the narrow streets. We found the ice cream shops. We laughed at the street performer in the square and at people he joked with.

We played on all playgrounds. We ate pizza and pasta. Janne baked Italian buns. We said "Ciao Bella" and "Buon journo Bambini". We jumped with surprise when we saw the lizards on the wall.

Later, we lived on a small mountain. We swam in the outdoor swimming pool. We woke up when thunder rolled over the mountain. We caressed the affectionate cat. We gave water to the hungry dog.

We visited Lucca and Pisa and Fosdinovo. We cycled on the city wall. We saw the leaning tower. We saw the sea from the castle on the mountain. We buried sticks in the sea and rescued them again. We lurched up the tower. Karoline and William went up and down the stairs we walked past.

William had 30 Lego bricks in his suitcase. William and Karoline built stairs and houses and people and animals and airplanes and cars.

Odder

We flew home.

We packed sandals and sunglasses away. We took scarves and hats on.

Karoline and William threw themselves into the Lego bricks. Now there were many bricks, not just 30, and the creativity that had been challenged and ransacked with 30 bricks, now had no limits.

We were catching a cold. The cold disappeared again.

Karoline went to school. William went to kindergarten.

One morning before school Karoline woke up and said, "Dad, we shall play chess." We played chess and Nine Men's Morris.

I cut the last grass before winter.

Eternity rests in every moment. The children play in the living room, are born and grow.

I gathered my notes. I went for a walk in the woods. I went for a walk on the beach. Jeg er bølgerne der vugger.

bølger mod kysten

smil og åndedrag

i himlen