I had no idea at the time, how long I would be away from teaching or what I would do with my time off. Other than the immediate commitments and responsibilities of my own family, I cleared my schedule. While the kids were at school, I rested. In the first six months of my sabbatical what I remember most is giving into the exhaustion. I gave myself permission to nap, journal, reflect, walk and anything else that I was inspired to do.

By the end of the first year I began to receive ideas for a poem. I had never written poetry before but the ideas were so vivid that I began to record them in my journal. Over time the ideas took form on the page. When it was finished I called it When I was Born. I was unaware at the time that this poem would be the beginning place of the Journey to Excellence program. Over the next months and years, I continued to make my renewal practices which now included writing, a priority.

Ideas continued to come to me during quiet reflective time. I felt excited by these ideas and was inspired to begin recording them in my journal. As I began to do this, I can only describe it as a portal opening within me. Streams of ideas and content began to flow into my mind almost on a daily basis. There were times of clarity when I knew exactly what I needed to write and how to write it. A powerful memory of this receiving of information was when In the early stages of my writing I was inspired to gather up my materials, books and computer and take a two week writing trip away from my family.

I lived at a very special mentor’s house whose name was Sue Wilkinson. She was a dear and long time friend of my mom. Her and I met months before at a holiday dinner at mom’s house. I had just completed my poem and was excited to share it with everyone around the table. Sue loved the poem and said that we should create a children’s book from it. She was a talented artist and was willing to do the illustrations. I shared with her, my dreams of a program of well-being based on Universal Principles and involved Sue in the formatting of my writing as I started to make the transition from journal to computer. As I prepared to go to Sue’s house, the format and content of my program started to reveal itself to me. I could see it in my mind’s eye as if it was already created. I knew what resources I would need to refer to and I knew that my ten years of teaching and creating activities on self-empowerment would be reflected in this new work. It was a daunting undertaking but I felt energized, confident and inspired.

This first draft of the program was called the Journey Within and it took me two years to complete. During the years of my sabbatical, my personal life went through transition. In 2003 my marriage ended and I moved to a townhouse with my teenage children. The Journey Within was set aside as I adjusted and settled into a new life. That year I began a new relationship and I returned to full time teaching. My life was busy but I remembered to include the renewal practices that were now an integral part of my life.