So long, 2020. The year in review.

2020 is drawing to a close, and I wanted to update you on what I’ve been up to this year.

While avoiding the coronavirus, I've managed to create quite a bit.

Let’s take a quick tour of some of the highlights. I hope you find these links useful.

Mindful Piano Basics

The year started off with the launch of the beta version of my piano course, Mindful Piano Basics.

The course isn’t open right now. But, I also made a $5 Piano Lesson.

E-Book

I wrote an ebook for amateur pianists called Take Yourself Seriously.

Mindful Piano Facebook Lives

I did a 7-part Facebook live series on how to play the piano with mindfulness.

Talking Videos

In February, I began posting talking videos, mostly on Instagram. Throughout the year, I've posted approximately 369 (and 58 were made in one single day!).

Here are some highlights:

2-part romantic comedy/horror film called “The Adventures of Michael and Girl Michael.”
1-minute explanation of Marsha Linehan’s 6 levels of validation.
My own version of the Boston Tea Party.
Papa Was a Rolling Stone
#60secondinstameditation, a series of videos showing how you can use social media as a mindfulness practice.
My improv on Bad Romance.
Angry piano teacher.
Demonstration of the full lotus pose.
Why anger is good.
Meditating for 2 hours.
How to fix racism.
Why I hate gifts.
A 9-part series on why you should meditate.
Me, reading my own hate mail.
A short lesson on music appreciation and why atonal music sucks.
My attempt at respecting cultural appropriation.
Jesus, take the wheel.
A bunch of piano improv videos.
Toilet paper yoga.

Email Cult

I re-branded my email list as an email cult, and have sent out 171 helpful emails in 2020.

Many of those are available in the email archives.

Meditation Practice

I've logged 581 hours of meditation on Insight Timer. This isn't all the meditation I've done, but it's everything I used Insight Timer for.

No Problem

I created a meditation course called No Problem.

Podcast

In August, I launched the Self-Defined Human Podcast. So far, I've published the following episodes:

Instagram Lives

I’ve done a bunch of Instagram lives, such as:

Gesture drawing
Italic calligraphy
Philosophy discussions with @katie.sula.exists
Meditation discussions with @smyogini and @love_me_lab_podcast
Made a gingerbread house while talking about meditation

Album

Michelle Murray Fiertek and I released an album of American art songs called Every Tiny Thing.

Free Digital Products

I created a whole bunch of free digital products, which you can find on my “hey you” page.

Other Paid Products

Let’s Hear It (a course for people who are afraid to make videos).
Just Draw It (an important drawing lesson).
Exploration Session (a private coaching).
Just Make It, Damn It! (a course for creative entrepreneurs who keep getting stuck on stupid things like logos and fonts).
Guilt Quest (a lesson on how to deal with feelings of guilt).

Meditation Classes

I started offering meditation classes on Zoom. Check out the schedule.

KormanYoga

I invented my own school of yoga (KormanYoga), authorized myself as a teacher in this school, and made a video demonstrating some basic techniques.

I also wrote about what’s wrong with yoga.

Skills

I got much better at:

Audio editing
Photo editing
Video editing
Acting
Drawing

Spreading Ideas

People have started associating my name with concepts like “radical acceptance”, “toxic positivity”, the Drama Triangle (Victim/Persecutor/Rescuer), and the Empowerment Dynamic (Creator/Rescuer/Coach).

Disappointments and Regrets

I lost over 100 friends who don’t appreciate my style of helpfulness. I was called “racist”, “narcissist”, “fraud”, “harmful”, “dangerous”, “manipulative”, “troll”, among many other names.

I got a phone call from the police as a result of one or more complaints that had been made regarding my social media posts.

I wish I hadn’t done the following so much:

Toned things down so as not to upset “experts”.
Pandered to beginners and friends.
Eaten so much pasta.
Refrained from being helpful for fear of scaring people off.
Avoided creating products because of misguided attempts at following bad marketing advice.

I also wish I had done a meditation retreat this year.

Goals for 2021

Practice conversation.
Create more advanced material that’s truly helpful.
Ignore conflicts with experts and social justice warriors.
Make more money.
Market my ideas without holding back.
Set it up so that people can easily pay me to learn piano, meditation, calligraphy, drawing, and yoga without any logistical or psychological obstacles.

Happy New Year!