Maybe I’m crazy but…during these dog days of summer when we’re in the doldrums and the job market suddenly looks about as fresh as those drooping hydrangeas against the fence … it’s worth stepping back and talking about one of the hidden problems of the American work/life: downtime. Whether you have a job and are working umpteen percent more than your counterparts were 30 years ago…or you’re looking for a job and never feel you can fully take a break because you have to do everything under the sun 24/7 to get that job … downtime is something you just don’t want to admit to. So my thought is this: how many of us, who have been or are in transition, are in this space because it’s the only way we can slow down and reacquaint ourselves with ourselves? How many of us are burnt out by the constant demands of e-mail, cell phone calls, computer fixes and glitches, bosses who don’t care about us but their own bottoms, not to mention our own inner demons for perfection? How many times in your life have you taken three months off to rediscover your direction, your values, your place under the sun and the constellation Canis Major to rediscover yourself? Maybe, just maybe, you’re doing that today, under cover of a job search. Maybe this transition is intentional; not openly so; but still part of the plan, part of an unspoken way of reestablishing your balance, your work/life balance. If that’s the case, be brave: take a day off during the workweek for yourself. Take two. Hell, I’m going to take ten. I’m off for a two-week sojourn in the mountains. Ok, so I’m crazy, but … it’s about time.