For the fall 2020 semester I was lucky to be able to take my sabbatical. While my original plan evolved due to the Pandemic, I was able to create space to disconnect from a great deal of technology, spend time reading about the impact of always on digital communication and engage a different part of my brain in learning something entirely new that was not connected to technology in any way. My journey in the Herbal Roots Apprenticeship program at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism introduced me to a different way of thinking and helped me to gain new knowledge in plant medicine. Taking the time to immerse myself in something new and disconnect as much as possible (see my presentation to learn why I wasn’t able to completely disconnect) resulted in a greater understanding and appreciation for interpersonal connection, how social media and communication technologies have affected the ways in which we do (and do not) connect, and ways in which we could better leverage platforms going forward. As a result of my reading and experiences during sabbatical I have had a proposal accepted for publication in the AI Practitioner for their November 2021 edition on Appreciative Inquiry and Technology.
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