Exp. #1 Update: Changes Coming for Subscribers
An update on "Experiment #1: Sharing the Top Ten Things I Do Regularly to Create a Happier Life"
If reading time is hard to come by or you’re interested in a more human experience, there is a “Read-to-You” version of this article.
If you’re new here, welcome! The “M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S.” part of Monkey Bars for the Monkey Mind is my acronym for the system I use to create and maintain a happy life, which I introduce in Experiment #1.
“S” is for "Serve While Connected," which I introduce in Experiment #11. You can see all of my “S” experiments so far by clicking here.
If you struggle with monkey mind or negative self-talk as I did (or know someone who does), consider subscribing. This stuff works and I am living proof. Though everyone’s “M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S.” will look a little different, I write this newsletter to show how it CAN look and how this method continues to pour happiness into my life—especially when I need it most.
Oh hey! Happy new year.
As you may have noticed, it’s been a little quiet on this Substack lately. Though I have started a number of posts on a number of experiments and continue to practice the M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S. every day, I have not published anything since December 7th.
At first, this was a byproduct of my dedication to practicing Experiment #28: Serving as the Music Minister at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, which in the run up to Christmas, required more of my attention than it had previously.
As a couple of weeks went by, though, and 2024 drew to a close, I began to reflect on my intentions for 2025 and where I wanted this Monkey Bars for the Monkey Mind project to go.
I thought of what my spiritual teacher, Swami Nityananda, who I write about in Experiment #22, often says:
“Ask yourself, ‘What would I love to create?’
Love is the key word. Our intuition speaks to us through love. It’s a window into our souls, which yoga philosophy teaches us, is the Source—is God within us (see Experiment #19: Trying to Answer the Question, "What is God?").
My spiritual teacher’s teacher, Swami Shankarananda, said:
“Intuition is not a sense; it is a faculty of soul. Intuition is pure awareness. Inspirations are the expressions and directions of the Being of love within us, the Source Wisdom.”
What would I love to create? What would make my heart sing?
While Experiment #1: Sharing the Top Ten Things I Do Regularly to Create a Happier Life has certainly been a source of creative fulfillment for me, it’s largely been driven by wanting to be of service—practicing “S” for "Serve While Connected," which I introduce in Experiment #11.
I want to help people who are still in the throes of demoralizing self-judgment and anxiety. This is a suffocating way to live and I want to add my voice to the chorus of people offering a way out.
Is Substack still the right home for this intention? Is a blog/newsletter still the right format?
I have absolutely loved writing on Substack this past year and continue to be a huge advocate of the platform, but if I’m being spiritually honest with myself, my heart is calling me towards another creative direction.
I have fallen in love with the online course / online coaching format and I’d like to experiment with adapting the M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S. methodology into a curriculum-based program that features weekly coaching from me, a clear outcome (happiness), and strong community support.
This didn’t come out of nowhere
In Experiment #31: Helping Build Online Courses that Strengthen One’s Spirit Through Yoga Philosophy, I shared how rewarding it's been helping my spiritual home, Awake Yoga Meditation, build small online courses over the past few years.
But my love for online courses goes back further.
When I transitioned careers in 2020 (which I write about here), I relied exclusively on online courses to educate myself about music production and the sync music industry. It was extremely effective for me. I experienced a number of different course delivery methods first-hand and, as a side project, started keeping notes and ideas about how I might go about building an effective online course if the right idea ever presented itself.
Eventually, the YouTube algorithm picked up on this emerging interest of mine and started feeding me videos about how to create a course. I watched many, many of them.
One day, a video by someone named Sunny Lenarduzzi came into my feed. I don’t remember the specific one or I’d link it here, but she talked about how online courses can be a way of turning the most painful thing you’ve ever been through—and subsequently overcome—into a package that can help others. Her approach seemed inspiring and innovative to me and convinced me that it would not only create a viable business, but help the curriculum make a meaningful impact in the world.
I started following her and eventually invested in her signature program.
My initial thought was that I would build a program to help songwriters who felt so trapped and discouraged by never getting to hear finished versions of the music that they stopped writing songs altogether.
This collapse of creative outlet was one of the major contributors to my clinical depression. Learning how to produce my own songs at a professional level allowed me to bypass the expensive producers, the record labels, and the industry gatekeepers so that I could hear my music on streaming platforms, sign my songs to professional licensing companies, and even get my songs placed on placed like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Peacock TV and more.
When I started working with Sunny, I thought that opening up this creative outlet was the reason I was feeling so happy all of the time. But as I got further into her program and the building out of the curriculum, I realized that there was actually something deeper supporting my happiness—the M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S. After I realized this, I became less interested in building a music production-focused course and more interested in a M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S.-focused one, which required me to go back square one.
I didn’t have the energy, frankly, at the time to make this pivot, so I paused the curriculum development in Sunny’s program and started this Substack. Now, after a year, it’s clear to me that my heart wants to see where this road takes me.
I have no idea if a M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S. online coaching program will work, but that’s why we call it an experiment. It’s what I would love to create.
What this means for you as a subscriber
In order to devote the kind of time it will take to build this program, I will need to adjust my relationship to this newsletter.
At this time, my intention is to keep the Substack live and write occasional posts, but for the foreseeable future, I will not be internally committing to publishing weekly. It might be monthly. It might be quarterly. It might even be less frequent than that. My intention is to prioritize the course development.
Since many of you generously became paid subscribers with an expectation of weekly articles, I have decided to offer everyone a preemptive, prorated refund. You should see this in your accounts soon, if you haven’t already.
If you’d like to become a paid subscriber under these new intentions and receive access to paid posts and “read-to-you” versions, I invite you to become a paid subscriber again:
Depending on the coaching I receive from Sunny Lenarduzzi on how best to support the online course program, I may also decide at a later time to take this Substack down altogether. I don’t know enough yet.
Subscribers will always retain any emails they receive in their inbox when I publish, but if I do decide to take the Substack down eventually, access will be terminated for everyone and I will offer prorated refunds at that time.
I want to take a minute to thank you all for subscribing and reading/listening this past year. I am incredibly grateful for your support and encouragement.
As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a very happy day.
With love,
Jonathan
