The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story For Work and Life (The Pathless Path Collection Book 1)

by Paul Millerd

First, people become aware of their own suffering. Often we don’t notice our drift into a state of low‑grade anxiety until we step away from what causes it, as I noticed the first day after I quit my job and realized I was burned out. After my friend, Kevin Jurczyk, took a planned sabbatical, he shared with me, “I used to think ‘this job isn’t so bad, I make enough money to make it worth it.’ Then you get a breath of freedom and realize, no, it may have been worth it at one point, but not anymore.”82 Similar frustrations with work inspired Jacqueline Jensen, a successful tech founder, to create a “structured sabbatical” to untangle her identity from her work. She asked herself, “What if I took work … working for a paycheck, what if I took that out of the center of my life, what would my life look like?” It was difficult, she says, “to untangle myself from all the things I get from work – the validation, the excitement.” 83 However, a month into her break she felt lighter and had a clearer view of what she wanted from work and life. Second, curiosity re‑emerges. When people have time, they try new activities, revisit old hobbies, explore childhood curiosities, and start volunteering and connecting with people in their community. Edward, a friend and a doctor who has taken several sabbaticals, reflected that “new