When I started my shiny new job at 极品反差婊, there was so much to think about and so many different ideas to get used to. Despite all the reading I had done by way of preparation for the job, there were many occasions when I found my eyebrows raised as I silently thought 鈥淲hat on earth 鈥�?鈥�; and tried to work out what was going on and why.听 I was told early in the piece that if I were seeking the logic behind some aspects of Jewish life, I would be sorely disappointed, as some things were based not on logic, but on other aspects of history, tradition or religion.

The idea of Shabbat was a particularly interesting one to me. I have never been particularly good at switching my mind off, except for when I鈥檓 reading or doing something that requires so much brain capacity that there鈥檚 none left for thinking about work (reading, classifying wildflowers, playing the piano. I also find sorting out cupboards quite relaxing - Marie Kondo is fascinating to me and I have very much enjoyed transforming the cupboards of various friends鈥� bed linen, but that鈥檚 a story for another time). So the idea of having a period of time when one avoids labour appealed to me.

Initially, my reading revealed that the observance of Shabbat serves as a memorial to the rescue of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by setting aside a day for 鈥渇reedom from the harsh demands of labour鈥�. I wanted to know what tasks and activities were not allowed during Shabbat and was pleased to find that most of them would not be restrictive to me given that I don鈥檛 do a lot of ploughing, winnowing, sheep shearing nor curing of hides. But further conversations with colleagues revealed that Shabbat also involved no sewing and no writing, which worried me. I also learnt that Rabbis spend time ensuring that rules are updated for modern day activities that wouldn鈥檛 have been considered in the Torah because they didn鈥檛 exist then.

The updated thinking, unfortunately for me, meant that I couldn鈥檛 give blood for a blood test (related to the ban on slaughtering), I couldn鈥檛 add fresh water to a vase of cut flowers (related to sowing, as opposed to sewing), I couldn鈥檛 cut my nails (related to shearing of sheep) and I couldn鈥檛 sharpen any pencils. I didn鈥檛 have enough hair to braid it, so this wouldn鈥檛 have been a problem. When I got to the part of no opening of umbrellas (building) or packages (this could involve tearing through lettering) and read about not being able to drive a car or turn on light switches, I realised I would struggle to incorporate a full-on Shabbat into my life. But the idea of a period of time without certain activities really did appeal.

Now I鈥檓 all for interpretation. I love the way that Rabbis through the ages have extracted concepts from within the laws of the Torah to enable people to implement them into the modern context. So when I read about the possibilities of a secular shabbat, my interest was piqued and I made a decision. I would come up with my own form of a secular shabbat (in my mind I use a lower case 鈥榮鈥� to denote its difference from a real Shabbat). I would take the period between Friday and Saturday night sunsets and I would not open my school laptop to check my email or do any other school-related work during that time. My school email would remain entirely untouched for 25 hours. This was a genuinely daunting prospect 鈥� old habits die hard and I found it difficult to even imagine being 鈥榦ut of touch鈥� with my work for that period of time. How long would I last? What if disaster struck during that time? How would people feel if I didn鈥檛 answer their email very quickly? For how many weeks would I be able to be sufficiently disciplined to not even open the lid? And what effect would it have on my life?

I am happy to report that since starting my job at Carmel in January, I have succeeded so far in not opening my laptop during shabbat 鈥� not even once. That鈥檚 five months of a new habit which I have kept up and which has been fabulous. I have found that despite the temptation to just have a brief peep at my email account, I have not done so even once and even that temptation is waning. And the huge benefit is that I really do switch off my thinking about work for a period of time, which must be a good thing.

There were times over the years when work got so huge and overwhelming that I seriously wondered whether being in prison and away from everything would be tempting. Although I would like to reassure you that your Principal has never carried out any crimes which would merit imprisonment, I had previously mused during occasional spare moments that I would actually be quite a good candidate for incarceration. It didn鈥檛 sound too bad, provided I could have an endless supply of books, good paper and nice pens, fast internet access, a room of my own and weekend trips out to indulge in long nature walks. I would run the library, work out future career paths and lives for my fellow prisoners and facilitate education sessions for them.听 They would be happily transformed by the experience, would leave the prison to lead constructive and fulfilling lives and their families would be appropriately grateful. I suspect The Shawshank Redemption had a lot to answer for in my thinking and my major modifications to the regime meant that the lifestyle was more retreat than prison.听 After some consideration, I realised that what I was considering was effectively just being a Principal with slightly older people behind bars and fewer emails, but it was an interesting thought exercise.

My point is, that sometimes in life there really is too much to do. There may be weeks where you may wonder how on earth you will meet your commitments and not let people down. And it鈥檚 important to think of ways to do whatever you can to give you time to think, to reflect, to switch off from the everyday. To slow down and stop the frenetic pace which may be causing you to never actually switch off your mind entirely. Strategies which help you to achieve this are definitely worth considering. My secular shabbat has done this 鈥� it has given me the switch-off time necessary to energise me for the rest of the week.

This week鈥檚 secular shabbat will, for me, involve walking with a friend and her dogs in the hills, followed by a sauna and dinner at her house.听 (It鈥檚 very useful having a friend who brought back a sauna for their garden when they returned to Perth from Finland.听 I bet not many people can claim that).听 And I shall revel in my new-found 25 hours with no 鈥榳ork鈥�. On Sundays I shall go back to normal and allow my mind to be filled with everything school-related, but the break will have allowed me to do this and remain (relatively) sane. Long may this continue.

I hope you enjoy whatever your switch-off time involves this weekend.

Shabbat shalom.