Hibernation

I’m 50% of the way through being out of hibernation and am very looking forward to turning back into a pumpkin at midnight on Halloween. I’m not traveling in August and have settled into being in one place (Aspen) after running around the United States for the past few months. In hindsight, it was too much. When I was younger, the travel I just did was “moderate.” But, between my actual work, age, post-exertional malaise , and the normal energy dynamics associated with shifting between Brad-introvert and Brad-extrovert mode, it has been physically (and psychologically) challenging. ...

After I wrote my post on Unhibernating , my long-time, empathetic friend Christopher Schroeder , whom I originally met through Ben Casnocha (that story is discussed in Give First: The Power of Mentorship ), sent me a short note asking, “Have you been ok?” I responded with a long email explaining why I decided to hibernate in the summer of 2023 and why this hibernation lasted almost two years. After writing a long email (which I’ve been doing a lot of during my hibernation), I asked Chris if I could post my response to my blog, and he said, “Of course.” ...