"there's been some hyperfocus, not gonna lie"

Jon emerges from months of creative hyperfocus to give a raw update on where he's been and where Survival Notes is heading. After building out the entire Focus Path/Compass Point ecosystem - practice, podcasts, frameworks, content systems - he's finally ready to get into a real production groove.

This episode is pure stream-of-consciousness processing: MS soft disclosure, the "allergy to toxic people," why he had to live in two worlds for so long, and what happens when you try to share genuine excitement with people who can't handle it.

No script, just Jon turning on the mic after a marathon creative building phase to say: I'm still here, the work is deeper now, and Survival Notes is about to get way more intimate.

"When the going's good, the going's good."

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What is Survival Notes?

A podcast about creativity as the path from surviving to thriving. Real, authentic, and unfiltered conversations surrounding the creative act—daily practices, small moments, and bold leaps that cultivate a better life.

For those of us who've mastered survival but are ready to do more than just get by. Hosted by Jon Murphy, PMHNP-BC—exploring how embracing creativity in ways both small and large becomes the bridge from enduring to flourishing.

Disclaimer:
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice or treatment. The views expressed are my own, drawn from clinical experience and personal perspective. If you're in crisis, please seek support from a licensed professional or emergency services.

Hello, this is Jon Murphy,
psychiatric nurse practitioner.

Here we are.

We're back.

It's just another episode
of Survival Notes.

Here I am finding myself at the end
of, well, there's some hyper focus.

Not gonna lie about it, you know, but
when the going's good, the going's good.

I have ms, multiple sclerosis.

It's this really odd duality.

When I first was diagnosed in 2020, let's
see, two, three, yeah, it was 2023, my

first episode of what's called ADEM.

And uh, that was in 2021.

And then in 2023, the stress of
going no contact with my mother

caused a relapse, and I developed
MS due to the stress of it.

And a really interesting
thing that happened with ms.

Now, every time I tell someone I have ms.

'cause it's a silent thing.

I hear, oh no, and people are scared.

They're, you know, I feel bad.

And you see people on TV like Christina
Applegate, and people have high level

of disability, so it makes me feel bad.

But that Ms fatigue, man, it is,
uh, it's a lot better than stress.

You know, that's the interesting thing.

I have to be away from toxic
people now my body's had enough.

I have an allergy to toxic people.

Anytime I'm in a room and something
like this happens, Hey, how you doing?

How's your work?

Good.

Good.

How?

How's your work?

You know, try not to talk about myself.

Oh, it's really good.

You know, we're going here, we're going
there, we're doing this, we're doing that.

Oh, it's gonna be amazing.

Yeah.

And oh, that's good for you.

You know, start playing therapist.

And so how about you?

Well, I'm actually really excited.

I've been doing podcasts and you
know, I got my business going.

I'm really loving being
a nurse practitioner

it's wonderful.

Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.

Chirp chirp, uh, hello.

It's like, uh, did, uh, what did I say?

I had to be quiet before,
if you can imagine this.

, I had two worlds.

The internal world, , the
world of internal validation.

And I even said it to myself at one point.

I said, you gotta look inward.

Look inward for those things that you want
to do that tell you, Hey, that was good.

I did that.

But what I didn't realize is why
is it there in the first place?

Why do I feel this way in the first place?

Why is there a hold to fill?

Shouldn't I be getting,
you know, congratulations?

You know, none of these things make sense
at the time, but we reinforced by doing

things outside of us going to school.

But when I became a nurse practitioner,
I was embarrassed about it and working

through all of this stuff, developing
this podcast Survival Notes as an ability

to sort of externalize my process, man,
it's been a wild ride of creativity.

I'm so glad my good friend and buddy
James Kennedy is along for the ride.

And I'm just burning the midnight
oil because my business Focus

Path that is www.myfocuspath.com

is now billing private insurance and, uh,
proudly serving the Pacific Northwest as

well as Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

I'm booking now.

If you're interested, love to
build a relationship with you and

help you work through your issues.

If you've dealt with some of the same
issues I have, you know, I only have a

point of reference, but learning someone's
unique life story, it's what's informed

my work, what informs this podcast.

But this podcast needs to take a turn.

This needs to turn somewhere
deeper, somewhere more creative,

somewhere more reflective, somewhere
more just intimate, I suppose.

So that's what you're gonna get.

And I just wanted to turn on
the microphone and say, no,

haven't gone away, gone nowhere.

I'm right here and I'm happy to be back
on another episode of Survival Notes.

We're gonna keep it brief today,
but I look forward to checking in

with you again probably this week.

Check out the rest of the
things we got going on.

Compass Point Institute, YouTube channel.

myfocuspath.blog

just rebranded that as insights,
formerly known as Line by Line.

This is Jon Murphy,
psychiatric nurse practitioner.

We'll see you next time.