reconnecting with work...

Dominique heads home in the morning. Life is starting to return to routine after Christmas and New Year. Of course, Megan and Matiu are here for the rest of the month and my sabbatical year continues to be an opportunity to have new experiences, go new places and try new things. 'Routine' for me this year isn't about returning to an office, but it's still about returning to a sense of keeping the sabbatical at the centre of most days.

So, after a morning of checking out the CN tower (from the ground!) and walking up Chinatown and having dumplings for lunch, this afternoon Megan, Dominique and Matiu went to 'the ROM' (Royal Ontario Museum) and I stayed home to get my head around work...

It's time to shift the pace again, to re-engage with the work-related commitments I've already made as well as to plan for the other things I'd like to do over the remainder of te tau okioki. I've got a lot of reading and writing to do over the next month and over the next six months. I've also got more things to reflect on and learn about how I deliver on my commitments: to my own projects, and to other people and organisations.

Megan, Matiu and I were playing charades on the subway in New York City, the day after they arrived in December. We play carades a lot over skype, and although we always did movies up until this particular day, we still started with the classic sign for 'movie,' holding the left hand in a fist and winding the right fist in a cycle beside it. I decided to act a book title instead, so started with the sign for a book: holding the palms of my hands together and opening them out like a book by moving my thumbs apart using my little fingers as the hinge/ spine. Matiu doesn't recognise this as a standard sign, because we haven't used it before, but before I get a chance to explain he excitedly shouted out "Book! The library!... Oh, I know... your job!"

Having taken a bit of a chance to relax over Christmas and New Year, I'm feeling refreshed and reenergised. I'm looking forward to making the most of this sabbatical opportunity, and continuing to remember something that Matiu takes for granted: this job of mine isn't just what tires me; it's what makes me tick!