How I’m Taking a Year Off

A sabbatical to figure out what to do next

Hello, world. I’m writing to share some things I’m ready to talk about more publicly. The headline: after ten years of helping build an amazing music technology company, Artiphon, I’ve stepped away from my full time role and set off on a year of seeking and experimentation. My hope is to find my next mountain to climb, new ways to be of service, and nudge closer to this luminous state called life.

I’ll be sharing more on all this, including what a superbly amazing trip it was with Artiphon, my friend and collaborator Mike Butera, and the rest of the team. We brought truly new inventions into existence, empowered more people to make music, and treated each other right while doing it. The Artiphon mission continues, and I encourage you to keep an eye on what is absolutely one of the most forward-thinking teams in creative technology. I’m still an advisor and supporter, so don’t hesitate to reach out with things Artiphon-related.

As for me, I don’t know what lies ahead. I’ve given myself a year, a radical sabbatical, to open myself up, try things on, study, sit, help, and experiment. The Greeks called it an Otium. The Jews, Shmita.

Here are the lanes I’m swimming in. If anything rings a note and you’d like to talk, by all means reach out.

Social-emotional youth education. For a long time I’ve been looking for a way to meaningfully contribute to racial healing and social justice. A year ago I met a remarkable educator who recently launched his non-profit to bring transformational education to young Black boys, men, and fathers in Brooklyn and beyond. I’ve been volunteering consistently and working closely with the founder and team to support and accelerate in this startup stage. You’ll hear a lot more from me about The B.R.O. Experience, if you haven’t already, but please do check out the vision of this magnificently dedicated teacher and founder, Barry Cooper. And check out this recent news article: A Friend’s Plea To Eric Adams: We Don’t Need More Cops

Tenants’ Rights. I got into this in a quite personal way. In late 2020 I led a letter-writing campaign to try and hold my corporate landlord accountable for their mismanagement of an affordable housing complex they own across the street from the Bed Stuy apartment building.

You can read a good article about it here: Bed-Stuy Tenant Kicked Out For Speaking Up For Neighbors, He Says

Here is the original letter I wrote and 19 other tenants signed. And here is the email thread between me and the landlord that ensued.

As a result of this line of questioning, the landlord chose to not renew my lease as a way of kicking me out. It came as a tremendous surprise and really did freak me out. At least a half dozen of my fellow tenants and the president of our block association wrote to Bushburg Properties emploring them to reconsider, a show of support that taught me a deep lesson in the power of community bonds to help us in our times of need.

Despite the appeals, Bushburg never wavered from their stance of non-renewal. Six months later we’re in the tail end of a court battle in which I will indeed have to move out of my home (though with a settlement, hopefully). The saga has taught me a lot about tenant rights in NYC, the power of landlords, the subsidized housing system, and community organizing. My building has now started its own tenant association to protect its residents and advocate for others, and there’s much more work to do to build protections going forward. More to come.

Consciousness training. Buddhist meditation and study has been an expanding presence for me in the past three years (though I first started practicing over 20 years ago) and I’m going to make sure this year is a time to go further in. Our consciousness is really all we have, isn’t it? And the amazing truth is that there’s so much we can do to cultivate and expand the realms of consciousness. Buddhist meditation, philosophy, psychology, and the art of daily living has brought me increasing joy and depth year by year. I really do see a pathway to a heart ever-more filled with love and generosity, consistent presence and appreciation, and a quite real liberation from the illusion of self.

In practice this means steady daily meditation, relationships with teachers, focused study, and time in intensive retreat. I’m hoping for at least a month in a monastery or meditation center (likely in Asia). If you’re looking for one thing you can do to make life better and deeper, take a seat, my friend.

Psychedelic therapies. Entheogenic and empathogenic substances have changed my life for the better, and I hope to continue the endeavor. There are two areas of experience design I’m particularly interested in, both related to music’s role in altered states.

The first is the idea of music specifically for psychedelic-assisted therapies. Unless you’ve been there it’s probably pretty hard to realize how meaningful music can be in states like that. I’m particularly interested in lyrical music that delivers messages that people can use to heal and grow. Sure, there’s mountains of beautiful songs with positive themes, but so far I’m convinced that they’re rarely quite perfect for the kind of therapeutic intentions people most confront in settings like this. Imagine songs written and recorded by musicians specificly for you and your individual challenges. My first thought was to start a record label dedicated to this – we’ll see if that makes the most sense.

The second area is how sound, music, and sonic interactivity is delivered in a psychedelic therapy setting. What are the most appropriate and supportive configurations of speakers/spatial audio, haptics, light and imagery, interactivity, etc. And certainly I’m not the first to speculate at the potential of VR and AR here. And of course there is ample opportunity to bring innovative musical interfaces (such as those that Artiphon creates) to the table. Initial experiments have already begun!

Spanish. I’ve been studying Spanish bit by bit (microdosing?) for the past few years (Duolingo and a once-weekly hour with a tutor in Argentina) and I’m feeling strongly that my life would be richer if I were bi-lingual. I’m writing this from Bolivia (with a cheek full of coca leaves) where I’ve been feeling incremental improvements and a glimmer of hope I could be conversational in the not-too-distant future.

Writing a book? I’ve always assumed I’d write a book when the right topic arrived. I spent seven years as a journalist and I dabbled in journalism again this past year. I don’t know if the right topic has arrived but I’ve been thinking about a juicy one (tell me if this book already been written): a study of spiritual teachers, healers, and esoteric practitioners who abuse their power, harming others (and themselves). The topic first surfaced while writing my yearly book report. After gifting numerous copies of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying to friends and family last year, I was jolted to learn the venerated lama who wrote it spent decades abusing his students and living gluttonously on the congregation’s dime. And if you haven’t watched the Wild Wild Country and Bikram documentaries, they’re also prime case studies. With more people discovering meditation, yoga, psychedelics, and alternative therapies of many kinds, we’ll no doubt see new waves of abusive gurus and narcissistic shamans, leaving a wake of swindled, confused, and damaged disciples. Yeah, has anyone written this book yet?

ReVillager. This year I’ve been advising a very cool startup. reVillager is a social media platform dedicated to fostering meaningful virtual + in-person community in a way that doesn’t monetize your outrage, sexuality, and fear. It’s a super bright team who is absolutely living different forms of the modern village life themselves. Keep an eye on them, and let me know if you’re interested in talking about partnership, investment, or using reVillager for your tribe.

Photography. I’ve rediscovered my teenage love of photography and built a consistent art practice. I’m working on a site where you can see the work. Just a reminder that making time for a creative practice is a nutrient very worth embracing.

Climate and Human-Friendly Building. Last on this (clearly sprawling) list is a very tangible project. My father has been gradually developing a super innovative building in South Boston, and there is one final phase of it to design and build. Adjoining a century-old rum distillery converted to artist studios, he’s already contructed a 28-unit residential building using the Passive House method of extreme energy efficiency (here’s what it looks like). He and my mother live in it, and I can attest to the quality of life.

I’ve been shadowing the process for the past few years and intend to get more involved in the second half of this year. The final phase will use the same ultra-energy efficient design, offer some of the cleanest indoor air of any residential building, and include outdoor and indoor edible agriculture. I’m confident it will be a true masterpiece of low energy design, human health and wellbeing, arts and culture, and community cohesion.

So that’s where I’m at! It’s a work in progress (don’t worry, I have an accountability buddy to help keep me on track — Thank you, Wes!!!). Please do get in touch if you want to talk about ideas and projects, if you’re considering a radical sabbatical of your own, or if you have advise to share.

With much love,

–Jacob