My sabbatical began in September of 2016, twenty weeks after my job ended in April. My top level of output was below the top level of my peers, so I was let go. Thus the need to recharge, rethink, redirect, and restore my mind, body, and spirit. I had no plans going into this time off, but I had saved some money for just this occasion. It was time to play that option. The time I spent earning a Master of Science degree placed a heavy toll on me, my wife, my kids, and my career. I was exhausted and flattened like Wile E. Coyote. I've "animated" myself back to full size.
Here are my accomplishments:
1) I've started a new art form and way of thinking based on science. How "we say what we say," our Sound-Messages™, affect every sentence we speak and every spoken word we hear. I was made sensitive enough to hear all of it and tough enough to live through it when I felt it would kill me.
2) I reconnected with my wife and children. We still argue... Alas, it is the biggest driver for me to make a living speaking, training, and sharing all things Sound Messages.
3) I completed a Master's degree. It's ironic, but the Master of Science program I studied (Organization Development) and the cohort I studied it with (class of 2014) trained me to lead us (and sometimes only me) through our recovery from the trauma we experienced going through the hours I was unavailable to my family at home and away on travel.
4) I completed an Associate of Art's degree in Music. Technically it's in General Transfer Studies, but my emphasis was in Music theory and piano lessons. I started it in 1996 when the school had a music program. Unfortunately, their music program ended in 2013.
5) I began to write down "Tonal Language" (1996). Sound Messages, LLC is the beginning of a tremendous amount of work. I will build on the foundation for this cathedral effort until my last breath.
6) I relaxed muscles I didn't know were too tight. They were between my shoulder blades and at the back of my neck. Why would this matter? It changed how I carry my head and placed my ears over my shoulders. This chiropractic change also opened my voice-box and increased the volume of my voice to an operatic level. For over forty years I carried my ears in front of my toes. It takes a conscious effort, but now I hold them over my shoulders often.
John Werner has degrees in Engineering, Music and Organization Development. He practices Sound Messages™ daily.
Have you asked someone to change the volume, tone, or speed of their words? What was the immediate result? Did you notice any change or improvement later? I learn from you, too; please share your thoughts in the comments section below.