The gift of a larger world

On the first day of her sabbatical, Susan Ohmer removed her work email from her phone and left town for a week. She called it the “opening volley” to four months of living her life differently.

The director of the Petersburg Mental Health Services admits that after more than 20 years of being available around the clock if patients or staff needed her, there was a learning curve. On previous trips, she and her doctor husband would “take every call and check emails.”

This time, the duo embarked on a bucket list 11-day cruise of the Western Mediterranean — without wifi and with their phones turned off. The result was dramatic. Ohmer’s husband told her he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so relaxed.

“The lack of email, Facebook, and cable news was essential in order for both of us to truly let go,” Ohmer said.

Next, Ohmer and her husband set off on a month-long RV journey along the east coast of the U.S. They visited monuments and museums, followed the fall colors south, and had what she calls “little adventures” along the way.

The couple returned to Petersburg in time for Thanksgiving and her mother’s 93rd birthday celebration. Ohmer and her sisters quilted, made jam and learned how to make a favorite family recipe, “Garbage Bread.”

Finally, Ohmer and her husband flew to Waikiki to enjoy a week on the beach.

During the sabbatical, Ohmer said she regained a sense of abundance in her life. She realized that there was enough time, energy and love to go around — it didn’t need to be doled out and measured, or conserved in case of a work emergency.

She also learned to look at her work schedule differently, cutting back on some things and allocating adequate time for all of her tasks, including emergencies, rather than trying to complete less urgent ones at home or on weekends.

The time away reminded Ohmer who she was, she said, reconnecting her with loved ones and giving her a sense of an exciting and hopeful future that’s full of adventure.

“Simply put, your gift gave me a larger world, one I intend to continue to explore and experience.”