A Year of Living Magically

Yesterday I was told that the governors had approved my sabbatical - so long as they can get a good enough teacher to replace me. Scary, no pay for a year, but exhilarating. I call my own shots for a year. Now come the decisions.
Do I try for a Masters in Creative Writing and have a qualification to flog plus advice for a novel or play? Expensive but could replay long term if I want to teach.
Do I use an mentor (paid) and develop two or three pieces? Cheaper, more flexible option. But if I want to change teaching subjects, will it serve me as well?
Do I spend part of it doing a VSO?
Do I spend a lot of it volunteering at our local theatres and reading?
Do I do an acting course? I loved the one I did earlier this year and it really helps to understand the theatre?
Do I teach TEFL abroad for a spell and fulfil two ambitions? To work abroad and to improve my English by teaching it?
Do I spend some time with my brothers who live abroad?
How much can I write this year? Can I learn how to self-publish? What can I afford?
Do I tutor to have some income?
Do I exam mark? Tedious but a nice little pay packet. Or do I just say, sod it?

Everything I do is with a husband and grown-up kids back home.

I feel like a starving woman at the All-you-can-eat-buffet. I can load my plate but what will give me the most joy and the biggest sense of accomplishment? I want a year of living magically.

The Egg Hatches...

Yesterday crystallised why I need to create a different type of life for myself. I love writing and feedback is good, but I don't have the energy to finish my projects and get them out there. Why? Teaching is the Dracula of my energy. Constant demands, no replenishing of the bloodstock and dark forces at work. Then there was this conversation from a truly lovely teacher who had just retired.

She: What are you teaching?
Me: Science in a high school.
She: Oh no. How can you cope? It's so awful at the moment.
Me: I am struggling...
She: You must have something good of your own to do. It's the only way to survive without destroying yourself. All those targets...

I hadn't started moaning, the comment was spontaneous. Do something you love. Something you aren't desperate to retire from (and that's a long time away).

Then I read the opening chapters of Donna Tartt's - The Goldfinch. It is magnificent. It is an inspiration. It reminded me of a chapter in my own novel.

Tomorrow I am handing in a letter asking for a sabbatical. No-one in school has done this before. I've no idea what the answer will be, but I know it can transform my existence.