Beers with a Stoic: Going away, coming back, and more about what defines a “brewery”

Mr. Big: Do you want the good news or the bad news? Me: I haven’t seen the sun for two weeks, so how about the good news? Mr. Big: Hey, guess what? We’re getting the band back together. Me: And the bad news? Mr. Big: You’re no longer in the band. Me: And the bad news? — One of my favorite axioms has to do with the importance of advance planning. “Before you can make a comeback, first you must go away.” “Going away” can be achieved in various ways, either physically or mentally. A larger consideration is the duration of one’s absence, which needs to be long enough that the audience has had time to forget the foibles, and selectively recall the choicer bits. In any event, there is a corollary to the preceding: “When the time arrives to come back, one’s prospects for success rely in large measure on how much was learned while he was away.” My first period in the wilderness came by my own choice and lasted from 2016 – 2018, ending with the advent of Pints&union. Within a few months of under-employment, my reading had tripled, and I watched probably a hundred documentaries on YouTube about history, art, trav ......Read more