A few weeks ago, I told some friends that I was planning to quit teaching meditation. Financially, it just wasn’t working out, especially with not enough people signing up for my online courses. My plan was to scale back Wildmind and find a regular job. So, I started working on a résumé (my first since 1993) and looking for job opportunities.
Naturally, I had mixed feelings about my decision, which was tough to make. I felt sad because I love teaching meditation and find it very fulfilling. I was also nervous about going back into the job market, but I was excited about the stability of a steady paycheck and freedom from financial stress. Overall, I felt a sense of acceptance and even relief about stepping away from something that wasn’t financially sustainable.
I even wrote a long blog post explaining my decision but never published it. A few days later, I had a change of heart. I remembered how supportive the Wildmind community has always been and realized we could turn this into a Community-Supported Meditation Initiative.
Some friends helped me refine the idea. The plan was that it would be community-supported. I’d ask people to sponsor shares to generate enough income to keep Wildmind going. Instead of charging for my courses (I never felt comfortable “selling” them), we could make them free for everyone. To thank my sponsors, I’d create new courses to support their practice.
Two weeks ago, I launched the initiative, asking the Wildmind community to sponsor 1,500 shares at $4 each [2020 Note: Shares are now $8 each].
One reason to sponsor shares is the good feeling you’ll get from supporting a website that has reached millions since it started in November 2000. We expect the website to have over 800,000 unique visitors this year. Plus, I’ll make the 30 or so courses I’ve already developed freely available. That should give you a warm glow inside.
As a sponsor, you’ll also get access to additional benefits as we progress towards full funding. Shares are just $8 each, and every sponsor gets the same benefits, no matter how many shares they buy. So far, the support and love from the community have been fantastic.
Your support means a lot to me. I’m already feeling uplifted by the contributions and looking forward to being able to focus more on sharing my practice rather than worrying about finances. Together, we can help more people benefit from meditation.
Thank you so much for your support.