Hi all!
Israeli writer Shira Leibovitz Schmidt recently wrote (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1132475709051&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull), "The holiness of the Sabbath suspends time - that voracious monster incinerating every moment of our lives..."
I was not raised in an observant/religious home; God just wasn't in our family equation. When I was 23 I, quite suddenly decided to put God in my equation by actively embracing my Jewish faith & becoming observant/religious (i.e. orthodox). In the 19 years since then, I have come to appreciate Shabbat not as the embodiment of restriction, but of freedom. For me, Shabbat is true spiritual liberation, which I hold very dear.
This http://www.jewfaq.org/shabbat.htm is a very good discussion of Shabbat & what it means to a(n orthodox) Jew, including the frequently misunderstood prohibition on "work".
Be well!
ssv