Sabbatical Interview with Eleanor Harris

Take a sabbatical at Pendle Hill! Sabbaticals offer a needed change of pace and renewal not only to educators and pastors, but also to those in business and other professions. Here Eleanor Harris shares how she created her own mid-career sabbatical.

Pendle Hill is glad to work with you to design a sabbatical to meet your needs and availability.  Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or read more about our opportunities. 

Eleanor, when you came to Pendle Hill as a resident student in the fall of 2006, you were taking a sabbatical from your career in marketing.  What motivated you to take a sabbatical?

I had been thinking about a sabbatical for many years.  When the opportunity came, due to my job ending, I had to really listen carefully to the Inner Guide in order to take the opportunity presented by this break after many years of high-responsibility work.  Immediately, friends, family, and acquaintances displayed their own fears and panic in their advice: “Can you find a similar job in another business?” “I know someone who you should talk to about another job.” “You should start a consulting business—right away!” I knew that I needed a break in order to reassess my work and renew my spirit but I found myself talking to people about job possibilities because I started getting infected by other peoples’ fears!

So, I signed up for a discernment class at Pendle Hill and I asked for a clearness committee from my meeting.  George Watson was on my committee along with someone who had been a Resident Student at Pendle Hill and someone who had served in the Peace Corps, another option I considered.  I became clear that my yearning for a sabbatical was an authentic leading.

How did you plan for your sabbatical?

I first became interested in taking a sabbatical when I saw friends who were teachers or clergy taking time away from work to delve deeply into some area of study and to renew themselves.  What a great idea! I lamented the fact that I worked in businesses and then a non-profit where sabbaticals weren’t part of the landscape.  So, I actually started a sabbatical fund for myself by putting away money each month.

What attracted you to Pendle Hill?

I first learned about Pendle Hill early in my attendance at Minneapolis Friends Meeting.  When a member I knew returned from Pendle Hill after a sabbatical from public school teaching, she lived in my house for a year.  This is when the seed was first planted that Pendle Hill was a place to take a sabbatical.  That was almost 20 years before I came!

When I came to Pendle Hill for the discernment workshop, I talked to some current students during meals and I fell in love with the place.

What did you do at Pendle Hill during your sabbatical year?

What I really wanted to do during my sabbatical year was to delve more deeply into my Quaker path.  I took every course and workshop taught by the Quakerism teacher at that time, Marcelle Martin.  I read every book assigned or recommended because that was exactly what I had come for. I had not taken as much time to do this when I was working because I was so absorbed in my work and exhausted by the end of a work day.

Additionally, I wanted to get more personal and conversant with the Bible.  I took a Psalms course with Christine Greenland which was very powerful.  Not only did we study Psalms through her personal translations of the Hebrew, in addition to reading numerous published versions, but she encouraged us to write our own psalms or re-write existing ones.  We came to understand them through understanding the experiences of the Hebrew people and then we translated them for ourselves today.  We got to argue with them and with God.  I was astonished by what others in the class wrote and experienced.  I will never forget when an African American student who grew up poor railed against Psalm 23!  “What do you mean, ‘I shall not want?’ What about poor folks?”  I learned that what could be comforting to me from my privileged background was anything but comforting for someone whose cup wasn’t even close to overflowing as a child!

I also took a term-long class in discernment where we worked in groups to name and explore our own gifts and leadings and those of others. I started dabbling in new directions which might lead to my next work. I particularly was testing out where I experienced joy.  I began to “get” on a visceral level how important it was to love my work in order to serve in a way that would feed my spirit rather than diminish it.

And then, of course, I worked, worked, worked, as does every student, through daily jobs around meal-time, Wednesday work mornings, and once a week dinner prep for a couple of hours of chopping.  I needed that work to balance all of my study. Many others spend a lot of time in the art studio—that will be my next sabbatical! Through all of this I developed a deep bond with many of my fellow students and staff members who I came to love because of the community we became together that year.

What suggestions would you have for other mid-career professionals interested in planning their own sabbaticals?

Take one, first of all!  Save for it.  If you’ve been able to put away money to contribute toward your child’s education, keep socking it away for yourself once that’s done.  Take  the money you might have spent on a fancy cup of coffee or on garage sale shopping or whatever small indulgence you might have and put it in the sabbatical fund. Apply for Pendle Hill scholarships. Apply for other grants. Start training others to take on those volunteer or other obligations you have so you can leave with a clear conscience.  Prepare your friends and family. Ask for a support committee from your home community so you have people at home who stay in touch with you as you gain new perspectives; I didn’t do this and I wish I had.  It would have helped my Friends meeting understand better my experiences and keep me grounded in what they were experiencing.  Having a support committee makes returning easier because you will both have changed!

Pendle Hill will work with you to design a sabbatical to meet your needs and availability.  Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or read more about our opportunities.