Hibernation

Announcing a temporary pause for the Bento Society

A Special Bento Society Announcement

Hello my friends. Yancey from the Bento Society here. It’s great to be with you again.

This month marks two years since the Bento was first shared in This Could Be Our Future. A lot has happened since. The Bento was in Time Magazine, on the Ezra Klein podcast (shared by me and Edward Norton), and on NBC. I taught the Bento to public companies, startups, artists, activists, and even accountants. I shared it with students and faculty at Oxford, MIT, the London School of Economics, Temple University, and in high school.

In the audience at these events were people who especially connected with the idea. Those people grew into the Bento Society — a community of thousands from all around the world who use the Bento.

For many of us, discovering the Bento led to greater self-awareness, significant life changes, and new friends. During COVID the community became a key component in many of our lives. Thanks to numerous wonderful community facilitators (Evan Adams especially!), we hosted the Weekly Bento on Zoom every Sunday for 18 months straight.

This start to the Bento journey has exceeded my hopes and expectations. The Bento is a real tool that brings real value to people’s lives. That’s amazing. But when I consult my own Bento about where we are and where I am, Future Me says it’s time for things to change.

Our experience together so far has been defined by the pandemic. We meet on video calls. We talk on message boards. I send emails like this one. We’ve maintained a steady drumbeat of activity. These actions and rhythm were shaped by the beginnings of the pandemic, but increasingly they feel out of step with our current environment and my own life. The world is changing and so are we. I’m not content to keep doing what we’re doing just because it’s how we began.

Today I’m announcing a temporary hibernation of the Bento Society.

This is not the end of the Bento or community around it. Far from it. This is an intentional break to reset this project and to make room for new ones.

Practically speaking, this hibernation means:

1. As of today, all charges to credit cards will stop for paying members. (If you’re an annual subscriber and would like a refund of some kind, let me know.) 

2. This email channel will go quiet for the next several months.

3. Space for the Bento community will continue. If you’re interested in connecting with other Bento-ish people, a new Bento Society Discord community is open to all here. Community-led events like the Bento Founders Club will continue, and members of the community will likely keep getting together on Sundays for the Weekly Bento. Join the Discord to stay in the loop:

Before the hibernation begins, I’d like to invite everyone to gather once more to do a final check-in on our goals for this year. Please join me:

Yearly Bento | Season Finale
Sunday Oct 24
12pm EST
RSVP

Thanks to all of you for being fellow explorers on this leg of the journey.

Peace and love,

Yancey
The Bento Society