On Sabbatical

After going through my calendar for the next several weeks and agonizing, once again, about how I am just not getting to the things I want and need to do, I've come to the inevitable conclusion that something needs to go, at least for awhile. So, Complexity Simplified will be "on sabbatical" for a few weeks, until October 1st, while Raima tries to get caught up.

Sabbatical might not be the right word for this break I need to take, since I expect to be very busy with several writing projects during that time, and with launching my yoga teaching business (as chronicled on my other blog, Yoga Emergence) and traveling to no fewer than three destinations between now and the end of September.

Vacation is not quite the right word, either, although one of the upcoming trips involves a short (four-day) stay at the beach. I toyed with the idea of an "internet fast," since the break from regular posting to Complexity Simplified will also involve a break from social media, but that didn't seem quite right, either.

I finally decided that I would just post an announcement that I'm "Gone Fishing," and that's actually a pretty good description of what I hope to accomplish during this time. It has actually been quite some time since I had anything of substance to say on this blog, and this is a reflection of being tapped out. The well feels like it's running dry, primarily because I'm not taking time for renewal and recharging the source. So, I'm going fishing, and hope to return in the fall refreshed and renewed with a lot more to say, and maybe with a mess of fish.

This doesn't mean that you won't see posts from Complexity Simplified during this time. I'm loading in a bunch of photos and short posts and scheduling these for publication throughout the coming weeks. Thanks to TwitterFeed and NetworkedBlogs all these posts should show up on Twitter and Facebook and it will look like I'm here, when actually I'm not. The wonders of computer automation!

Despite my enthusiasm for the newest social network site, Google+, it is still not sufficiently developed that automatic feed mechanisms are available, so it will probably look like I've all but disappeared from Google+ for the next couple of months. It will be interesting to see what that medium is like in October, since it's grown at an enormous pace in its first month of life. I predict big changes and new developments in the weeks to come, but they will have to take place without me hovering around to watch.

I really need to thank my friend, Susan Henderson, who posted a note on her blog LitPark back around the middle of June that she was taking a break from all things internet for the entire summer. I've missed her posts and missed interacting with her, but I completely identify with her story of saying that you want to write, but doing everything else instead. Social media is a wonderful new development in our society, but it can also become an addiction if used to avoid the work we need and want to do. I don't know if I'm quite to the "addicted" stage yet, but I know when I need a break--and I need a break.

So, I'll be back in the fall, when the leaves are starting to turn and the temperature is no longer hovering around 100 degrees days after day after day. If anybody really needs to find me, I will be reading email during this time. (I flirted with going on an email sabbatical, too, but that would be akin to not answering my phone!)

See you in October!