You may have missed our latest Kickstarter campaign, which was the simplest product we've ever released. This little container is a stretched out "coin", so we named it the CoinTainer. Why? Because we already offer custom engraved coins, and we also like to keep small valuable with us when trekking outdoors.

Our next Kickstarter will be brass instrument related and something for non-musicians as well, so be sure to sign up for Kickstarter here and follow us for updates.

As of January 1st, Harrelson Momentum has turned over operations to Jolene Clark. Jolene has been with Momentum since I began contemplating the original Kickstarter campaign a year ago. She has shared my vision, given me great ideas and watched me invest countless hours designing, developing and making everything from the very first prototypes through production. And now she is managing the front end of the business including most communications, order fulfillment and customer service. But more importantly, Jolene is going to take Momentum to the next level with her vision and passion to delivery only the best.

I will ask Jolene to post an introductory blog entry in the near future so you can learn more about her experience in leadership development and her own company, Redhead Momentum.

I will continue to blog and plan to do so much more often. And don't worry, I will continue making Momentum in my Denver shop, but with some new additions to the Momentum family. I have been exploring ways to evolve the MV top in various directions including; meditation, education and fun top variations. So watch for the latest additions and please post photos and videos of your experiences on our Facebook page or tag us with #harrelsonmomentum on Instagram!

The Momentum philosophy applies to all aspects of life. Many of you know me from the trumpet world, where I design and build custom trumpets that are easier to play. But did you know I'm giving away a FREE VPS Summit Trumpet on June 23rd? I'm also offering a 10% discount and commission to all who share my Kickstarter Momentum page. You can learn more and participate for free by visiting my Harrelson Trumpet blog here.

Who knows? Maybe you will win a $6000 trumpet while exploring Momentum!

It's true, Momentum saved my life. I wouldn't be here sharing my personal journey with you today had I not built up so much momentum years earlier. One really amazing thing about angular momentum is that it creates torque in the direction of the rotating axis, which maintains stability. This is why spinning tops and gyroscopes seem to defy gravity like in the video below. (this video is 19 minutes long so you may want to skip to the end after the first minute)

Angular momentum is a metaphor for Life Momentum. By building up enough momentum in life, we can quickly recover from unforeseen setbacks that would otherwise render us defeated. If you were to push the Momentum spinning top with your finger, the high angular momentum will keep it upright. It does not fall over. The same can be true in life.

So what compels me to share my momentum story? Survival...perseverance...curiosity and the love of life.

Four years ago, at age 37, I suffered a major stroke that resulted in complete memory loss. This happened in my sleep. I woke up one morning confused and began wondering why I couldn't move my left arm. Then I realized I couldn't move my left leg. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't understand and I had no sense of alarm. I decided to drive myself to the hospital even though I couldn't walk.

The next day, I awoke in a hospital bed alone. My parents and sister lived 1000 miles away and my only friend who knew something was wrong was on vacation. When friends did come to visit, I didn't know their names or faces. I was without memories from the past. At the moment, the world was completely new and my best friend was my nurse, since she was the first person to speak to me. I didn't understand anything in life, but oddly enough I was extremely happy.

There is much more to this story, which I will publish in my upcoming book, "Life Momentum". And you can read more about this event (and many others) in my blog on the Harrelson Trumpets website. I encourage all fellow survivors of stroke and heart attack to leave a comment or connect with me personally to share your stories of courage and recovery. We need to raise awareness and share our collective will to gain momentum in this life!

What does Momentum, the spinning top, have to do with momentum in life? Well, everything. I would not be here today had I not driven myself to the hospital that morning. You see, I had suffered a heart attack the night before and I likely would have died in that bed. But I didn't. I am the kind of person who stands up to a fight and even in my weakened state of mind, I dragged my body to the front door of my shop (over 120 feet) and pulled myself into my truck. Then I somehow found my way to the hospital.

I had a lot of momentum in my life leading up to this moment. I was at the top of my career as a custom trumpet designer and builder. I had built my company from the ground up with a great team capable of building the world's most efficient trumpets on a daily basis. And the momentum I had gained was largely due to my friends, colleagues, family and fans coming together to support and create an entirely new approach to trumpet design.

The day I was released from the hospital, something amazing happened. I picked up a trumpet and sailed up to double high C. For you non-musicians, this is a challenging high note that requires a fair amount of skill. I didn't understand that this in itself was amazing at the time.

I couldn't play any songs as I couldn't read music. I didn't even know which buttons would create different pitches. I had to start all over learning trumpet. But get this... I learned all of my scales and arpeggios in one day. I started slow and painstakingly forced myself to re-learn trumpet. I thought, "If I'm considered one of the world's leading trumpet builders, I should learn how to play!" And day after day, I approached the instrument as an extension of my body. Within a few weeks, I could play by ear to pretty much any station on Pandora. Learning trumpet seemed to come very naturally to me even though in my previous life I had struggled for over a decade to achieve what I had accomplished in just one week. It was obvious to me that I had discovered something very important in life. I had discovered the secrets to Momentum.

I will continue to share my experiences discovering Momentum in future blog posts, but for now I want to leave you with these three principles...

1) Find your Balance
2) Reduce Drag
3) Gain Momentum

Many of you know me from Harrelson Trumpets, where I have invested the past 22 years of my life working to improve the trumpet. But did you know that I've been inventing, prototyping and producing other innovations since I was a young boy? I most likely began inventing to pass the time as my parents raised my sister and I on the road. They were over-the-road truck drivers meaning the four of us lived in a semi-truck together. Imagine close quarters on a level that makes the "tiny house" movement seem like nonsense.

According to my parents, I wanted to become an inventor because I enjoyed solving problems. I built an amphibious bicycle by converting my bike with laundry soap and milk containers and I got really wet! I built an autonomous boat that trolled with a fishing line to catch lunch. I became obsessed with breaking the world record for the longest paper airplane flight using one single sheet of notebook paper, which I accomplished after one very long year. I salvaged old toys I found in the dumpster, taking them apart to rewire the electronics to create animated Christmas ornaments, a personal security system for my room and remote control gadgets that had no use outside the imagination of an 11-year-old boy.

In a sense, I'm the same person thirty years later. I have ideas for new products, processes and solutions every few hours. I literally have dozens of notebooks filled with million-dollar ideas that I will never find the time to prototype. And I have prototyped hundreds of ideas in my lifetime. Fewer than 1% of my ideas ever become a real product. And today, I'm revealing the latest, greatest, coolest gadget you'll see come out of my shop this year.

Today, I introduce you to Momentum, the world's longest spinning 38 gram top. I have developed a precision stabilization system that allows you to accelerate this little device from zero to 15,000 RPM in less than one second. Yeah, it's really as crazy as it sounds! With one pull of a Kevlar string, Momentum becomes a whining engine of angular momentum that looks, sounds and feels alive. In fact, if you're not careful and accidentally set it down at too much of an angle, it will gain too much friction and fly across the room. I'm not kidding, please be careful.

Experiment where I placed one spinning Momentum on top of another. Yes, they're both spinning!

Momentum is many things...

• an amazingly cool physics experiment demonstrating Newton's three laws of motion
• a meditative tool to help you focus in 15 to 20 minute intervals
• a competition to beat your previous spin time with surprisingly challenging skill requirements
• a great way to improve hand and eye coordination
• an addictively fun desk attraction
• a beautiful masterpiece designed and machined with perfect balance

But Momentum is much more than all of these things. Momentum is a way of life. My next few blog posts will reveal why I have chosen this particular invention as the next I bring to market. And believe me, you will find the explanation truly inspiring as I owe my life to Momentum.

Feel free to leave me a comment or question below and please share with your closest friends.
Jason