It’s been a week since I launched danharris.com, and without a doubt, the highlight has been interacting with so many of you. I’m the type of person who, when he’s throwing a party, freaks out that nobody’s gonna show up. I’m immensely grateful and relieved that so many of you have. A few of you have even laughed at my jokes. (Which reminds me of a quote from Evelyn Waugh: “We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us, but for ours to amuse them.”)
If you joined the chat last Friday afternoon, where Jeff Warren, Sebene Selassie, and I answered questions about meditation—thank you. We had 76 questions within the first four minutes and ended up with hundreds more. It was chaotic. It was exhilarating. And we are going to work on making it a little saner next time.
Notwithstanding the not-so-meditative user experience, that chat reinforced for me how much of a need there is for this community—for a place to ask questions and share ideas.
Which brings me to my invitation for you.
Tomorrow, Substack is launching a brand new video live-streaming feature that allows authors and audiences to connect. I’m psyched to try it out on day one.
I’ll be streaming a live video AMA (Ask Me Anything) tomorrow, Wednesday September 18 at 4:30PM EST, via the Substack app. Come check it out.
I’m going to start with a quick hello, and then do a guided meditation. After that, I’ll answer questions. You can submit ahead of time or when I’m live and I’ll do my best to answer as I go. This is the first time I’m doing this. I think it’s going to be fun. Also, be patient with me.
Going forward, I plan to do these AMAs once a month.
I also plan on using Substack’s new live-streaming feature to invite you to sit with me when I meditate. These sessions will be unguided. There will be very little advanced notice. It’s really just a chance for you to drop in and sit with me, even for a few minutes, if you’re available.
For tomorrow’s live AMA, here are some logistical pro tips:
Most important: you have to download the Substack app. You will get alerted when we start.
Send me some questions ahead of time by commenting on this post. They can be about meditation, about my podcast, about my cats. Whatever.
Since this is my first live video AMA, it will be open to everyone. After this, it will be a paid subscriber benefit.
If you can’t make it, the video will live on my homepage, and you can watch it at your leisure.
Thank you again for all of your enthusiasm and patience as my team and I boot up this new community/cult. (Jk!)
IPMF,
Dan
This is fantastic yet somehow it also feels overwhelming. I love the idea of community but this feels so big- like one of those freshman seminars in college where you hide anonymously and silently in the back of the auditorium because it feels like all of the popular outgoing kids are the raising their hand and offering interesting and insightful comments. I’d love to hear how you envision someone like me -a struggling meditator, life long searcher and regular doofus- squeezing the best out of this community from the back of the room. Thanks!
Congratulations, Dan. Is there a special cult membership level that includes the IPMF tee? I hope it can just be the cult name at some point.