A Vermont man is being called a “modern-day Rip Van Winkle” after spending 75 days in a silent retreat — .separated from all news about the ongoing state of the world.Daniel Thorson, a podcast host and staff member at the Monastic Academy training center, entered full isolation in mid-March.Thorson ended his isolation on May 23, logging back onto Twitter with a message that quickly went viral.“I’m back from 75 days in silence.
Did I miss anything?” he wrote.Thorson described the hours after his tweet, during which he learned of countless stories surrounding the health crisis.Just like with the fictional Rip Van Winkle, who fell asleep for 20 years and missed the entire American Revolution, Thorson had some trouble catching up with his new reality.“I was thinking, is it going to be ‘Mad Max’ out there, like are we the last survivors?” he said.
“How is humanity doing?”.he also feels the distance has given him some perspective.“whatever happened in the last three months is one of the most significant events in modern history”