Sabbatical Fun

During my first Sabbatical, I studied Spanish, and among the benefits of that study was a sense that I was using a part of my brain that didn't otherwise get much exercise in the ordinary course of my ministry. A minister is necessarily focused on people, big pictures, long range plans, and the meanings of things, not on memorizing vocabulary or grammar. I really enjoyed a sojourn in that "concrete" territory.

Blogging seems to be offering me a similar change of brain-pace. I notice as I scroll through people's blogs, both UU and otherwise, that most people just grab a template and start writing, but I've spent, so far, at least three times as much energy on my template as I have on my writing. I figured out how to make links work, how to change the colors, and how to add toys, like the visit counter at the bottom of the right column, and, today, the word cloud at the top. This has involved me in learning elementary programming and allowed me to be the perfectionist that I am by nature but can't be in the rush of ministry.

I've had so much fun with this blog that I've started another one: A post-modern, feminist, agnostic, universalist adaptation of the book of Psalms. I'm planning to post a new psalm each day. (The writing of these, I hasten to add, was done over several years, several years ago. I had planned to review one each day in my morning quiet time; now I'm going to review and post. I realize that the Psalms are not ordinary fare for most UU's, but you can check them out if you want to! www.doubterpsalms.blogspot.com

It's been great fun!