Taking a break

Four years ago I announced that I will join Mozilla as principal evangelist and I was the happiest person alive. I exclaimed that I want Mozilla to be the “Switzerland of HTML5” and an independent player in the great browser wars around the early days of this new technology revolution. I also announced that I am excited to use my flat more as I can work from home.

Now I am here and I have hardly had the chance to do so as I was busy getting from event to event, training to training and meetup to meetup. And whilst this is exciting it is also superbly taxing. It is time to lean back a bit, relax and have some me time.

I feel the first signs of burnout and I think it is very important to not let a fast and seemingly glamourous lifestyle on the road as an official spokesperson get in the way of finding peace and tranquility. I spoke in my last TEDx talk about getting too excited about one’s own online personality and living for that one and how dangerous that is.

And here I am finding myself being excited about Chris on the road and forgot about Chris who just lets go and leaves things to sort themselves out.

This is why I am taking a break from Mozilla. I am going on a sabbatical for a while and be a spectator watching the rewards of all the work we put in the last years. Firefox’s 10th anniversary is coming and great things are afoot.

I think we’ve shown that we can be the “Switzerland of HTML5” and it is time for me to have some time for myself and see what my colleagues can do. That’s why I am stepping down as “the Mozilla guy” and be plain Chris for a while.

I want to thank all my colleagues over the years for the great time I had. It is amazing to see how many dedicated and gifted people can work together and create something open and beautiful – even in traditionally very closed environments like the mobile space.

I will of course be around and you will be able to meet me at selected events and online. People in London and Stockholm will also see more of me. I will only take it slower from now on until the new year and represent myself and not the large, amazing and wonderful world that is Mozilla. As it stated on one of our summits: it is one Mozilla and many voices. And I will lean back, listen, and enjoy.