I’m sick of personal development. What is the point? Life is a bright mess of joys and sadness, and then we die.
When I was a little boy, the teacher asked the class what we wanted to be when we grow up. Doctor! Fireman! Astronaut! came the answers. I was shy, so I followed the crowd when it was my turn to speak up. Lawyer, I mumbled. But deep down inside my heart, another fire was burning. I knew what I wanted to be, and no one can stop me.
In my recent meditations, this childhood memory has been coming up – again, and again, and again. Was I living my true purpose? Why was my adult life so different from what I imagined it to be? Was I a sell-out, walking the safer path, the path society has decided for me? The recent Passion and Purpose in Life series made me feel worse. I faced my fears, overcame my need for approval, and found my childhood calling resurfacing.
The final nail in the coffin came a week or two ago. This blog was making me money, and I was happy. But the income came partially from gambling advertisements – which I had accepted without thinking. I didn’t realise that it might be seen as an endorsement for gambling; which might hurt some readers who are struggling with an addiction in that area. After days of deliberation, I decided to take the ethical route and remove the ads.
Still, it meant I lost a decent amount of monthly income. It makes me sad, so very sad, so very very sad. So after another few days of deliberation, I’ve decided a change of direction is in order. I’m closing UrbanMonk.Net and returning to my childhood dream: to expose myself to women around the world for money. Goodbye, it was nice to know you all.
I think my stage name will be Cherry Blossom.
Me and my new friends.
(Edit: Thank you for your emails everyone, but this is an April Fools joke, I’m not really going to close the blog! Please stay with me! 
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A Personal Update
But on to something more serious – there really is a slight change in direction.
If you have noticed, I am slowing down on my own postings, and slowly increasing the amount of guest posts. The reason for this is simple: In addition to an increased workload and study requirements, I’m going through some deep inner work. I have already completed a significant portion of it, documented the work I done, and it will be an understatement to say I am overwhelmed with excitement. I just need some time to really push through the remaining barriers of fear and resistance. This is a potentially trying time – inner work can sometimes be very stressful. Yet the material I will write from having completed this work will likely blow my existing material away, so I guarantee you it will be worth it.
All I ask for is your understanding if I maintain this slower posting rate, and if I present more guest bloggers. I will still be writing – but I am presenting a ratio of roughly 4 of my posts to 1 guest. Some people seem to think guest bloggers are an escape, perhaps a detriment to a blog – I don’t agree. I think they fill in the holes in my knowledge and skills, and provide a fresh voice and perspective. For instance, the recent guest post on addiction was amazing – it was something I had little to no experience with, and Patrick’s voice was something I felt was tremendously beneficial.
As such, I am opening up my blog to more guest posts, if anyone wants to write one. I’m writing up some guidelines and requirements right now, it will be available in a few days.
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Further Reading:
