I woke up the morning of Oct. 31st 2022 and realized: I'm not going to have to dread Monday mornings for a while.
I'm taking a sabbatical!
After 5.5 years working in Talent Acquisition in Amazon Operations, I’ve decided that it’s time to press pause. From November 2022 to October 2023, I'll be taking 11-months off to slow things down and reconnect with my passions.
Yes, this will slow down my career.
Yes, I won't be having a steady flow of income.
Yes, I am absolutely terrified of what my days will look like.
Yes, it's a risky decision.
And I know what you're thinking. After only 5.5 years in the business world and she's taking a sabbatical? It's true. I don't have a long tenured career. I haven't climbed very high up the professional ladder. I sometimes feel that I don't deserve to take this time off.
But within this timeframe, I experienced a huge loss that still hasn't healed. I lost my dad. My role model. The person that gave me direction and purpose. My dad was larger than life. He lit up every room he entered. He was charismatic, loyal, loving, and so generous. He was unapologetically himself. My dad spiced up my life. A loss this insurmountable can't simply be put under the rug.
2 months after my dad passed, I started my first job in a new country - Luxembourg. The only person I knew there was my partner. Only a few months prior, my world had been turned upside down and nobody knew. I understood that I had to push through. Pretend like everything was okay and normal. This was how I was raised. I needed to make a name for myself and build a career. It wasn't appropriate to share this traumatic event with new friends and colleagues. I kept it to myself.
Within the 5.5 years, I changed roles several times within the Talent Acquisition team - from intern to recruiting coordinator, to recruiter, to events specialist, to senior program manager. That's a lot of change. Outside of work, I was pursuing my passions. I completed my 200h RYT and began teaching yoga several times a week in Luxembourg. I built a yoga and mindfulness community within Amazon and brought my passion into the workplace. I lead yoga sessions, meditation sessions, and even led several 4-week mindfulness programs to Amazonians across Europe and US.
All that to say, is that I didn't stop. I was in survival mode. Pushing myself to succeed. Proving to my dad that I could be okay. Proving to the world that I was successful and worthy.
There wasn't a specific moment where I knew I needed to stop. But I started to tune in with myself and this little voice gradually became stronger and stronger. Slow down. You don't need to do everything. You have nothing to prove. Take time for you.
And that's what I'm going to do. Take time. Allow myself to process. Allow myself to feel. Enjoy moment to moment. I'm going to allow myself to be sad, to embrace the boredom and enjoy the spontaneity of life. I want to learn about the art of slowing down.
Because, there is truly no time like the present to live your life to its fullest potential.
So if you've read this far, you may be wondering what I'll be doing for 11 months? I recently purchased a home in France and will be renovating with my partner.
But my big adventure? I'm absolutely terrified, but also totally excited.
You can read all about my big adventure here.
Do what you love, and the rest will come 💚
Chloe Jane is a RYT in a variety of restorative yoga styles: yin, restorative yoga and yoga nidra. She is a Sound Healing Practitioner and works with the energies of her Tibetan Singing Bowls procured from a shamanic family in Nepal.
Chloe's style focuses on bringing awareness to the present moment through physical and energetic practices.
Her passions include mindfulness, nature hikes, foraging mushrooms, and mountain biking.
She is South of France based (Ardeche) and you can find her on instagram @chloejanejacobs.
Follow her sabbatical adventures and join her blog community!