buddhify 2 is coming, 2013 leaving

Today I heard that buddhify 2 has been approved by Apple, which means that it is now sitting behind the scenes in iTunes ready for the formal launch in early January. As a micro-publisher – you have to take the risk of there being a few ‘single points of failure’ in your production process and that has meant that we’re launching 3-4 months later than we had planned but that’s totally fine – especially since in January buddhify 2 will be able to ride the annual new year/new you/resolutions wave in which meditation-related things tend to do well.

I’m really pleased with buddhify 2. The original app was very much an experiment which went on to exceed expectations but as a very low budget build it was held together somewhat with tape and bits of string. buddhify 2 takes the core concept of ‘mindfulness meditation for wherever you are’ and looks to execute as well as it possibly can be. And while entirely biased I think we’ve done that – it’s bigger, better and beautiful-er than ever before and I hope people will agree with me that it takes the delivery of a mindfulness-related app to a new level again.

So I’m excited to do all the bits & pieces associated with the launch in January… but that’s next year.

2013 has been quite a year. I got married to a wonderful human being, I lost another in the deterioration and death of my father, our puppy got cancer, our puppy got rid of cancer, I had the honour of joining the board of the British Council, I’ve had professional success well seasoned with moments of folly, I’ve watched good friends have to close or downgrade brilliant businesses.. and all the rest.

In the Buddhist tradition we talk of the eight worldly conditions: praise and blame, gain and loss, pain and pleasure, status and disgrace. And the training we are invited to is not to optimise the positive since that is hubris and ignorance itself, but to learn to hold it all with true balance, feeling everything.

So that is the practice and reflection I am holding as I orient to 2014 and reflect on the year in which buddhify 2 has been birthed.

I very much hope that this little app may touch the lives and hearts of many thousands of people across the world, and all indicators are such that I very much think it will.  But in the event that it does not then that is fine too since for all the ambitious sales models and inventive PR strategies, it is a product that is made with love by all involved.

In January I’ll share some news on what new products, projects and programmes I am working on but until then… happy holidays everyone.

Image courtesy of flickr user @blmiers2