BEAUTIFUL Morning – Woke up next to a dog racing track – Yes since Bess left things have gone to the dogs hehe – Also next to a lovely pond in a little town(see pic) called Mooroopna

BUSTED BY THE FEDS – Had 3 very angry fedral police bang on our door the other night – Seems your not allowed to park within 7 meters of an airport fence. Signs might be nice chaps. Anyway by the end of it we were talking babies and the best of mates haha

KIDS STUFF

Thanks to  Rita I took a little detour to Shepperton and Kids World. BlueBelle loved it – Actually Sheperton is a really nice place. Painted cows all over the place! Strange but nice.

Ill start heading up to Albury – I heard there are some nice spots around there – Any tips PLEASE!

SAD STORY – BIG LESSON

A little girl so traumatized by her experience at the dentist to remove her milk teeth that she refused to open her mouth again,starved to death yesterday http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1028696/communication-failure-blamed-for-girls-starvation

The crazy thing is the fear response is supposed to PROTECT us from death, but we see here, and in other cases like suicide that the mind perceives the threat as GREATER THAN DEATH!

Imagine the will power you would need to do this! Well this is the DARK side of the power you posses. You have MORE than enough power to do anything you want. You just have to learn to control it.

It may seem crazy that she could go this far. But is it any less crazy when we allow our ancient survival mechanism to run our life, when they were much better equipped to keep us out of the way of saber tooth tigers !

I am going to use this girl’s sad story as a reminder of the power we posses to control if we choose and the irrational nature of my own fear response when it kicks in.

NEW FRIENDS & the power of nothing

Imagine escaping in the middle of the night from a war zone with your family on a boat smaller than our Winnebago. Through storms and near death to end up in a Malaysian refugee ‘prison’.

To Yung, a Life Changer we met last night, having just the clothes on his back when he eventually arrived in Australia was the best thing that could have happened. He said it was this experience and the appreciation for life and luxury it gave him that made him a success and now able to give so much to so many charities.

I actually had a flash of realization. It was THAT APPRECIATION that I wanted to feel again. And one of the driving forces for me to give everything away.
After Yung told us his story I suddenly had a bit of an epiphany. Its this appreciation that modern living suck out of us.

Lets face it most of our stresses are SELF INFLICTED… revolving around the pursuit of more of something or other. More love, more money, more recognition, more security. Reality is if you have more than a bowl of rice and a blanket your LUCKY, and anything above this IS A BLESSING!

Well I WANT TO FEEL THAT REAL APPRECIATION again when i look at what i have! Rather than only noticing what i have not!

Yung also told us that he recently has gone from Atheist to devout Buddhist after a profound occurrence in his life so thanks Yung for such a great evening. You certainly were an inspiration.

NOTE FROM  BESS – Hello all my lovely Life Changers. My two babies are going to be without their mum for a week so could you all please make sure they are ok from time to time haha.

I have written todo lists all over the Winnebago so BlueBelle wont end up with the Nappy on the wrong end and wrapped in newspaper. If you see them on their travels to Canberra do say hi. If you find them rocking in the corner of some diner then call Docs haha

HELP!  WHATS NEXT

Ok so im traveling up through Albury, Gundigai to Canberra. If you think there is anything I should stop at, especially if BlueBelle will like it, then PLEASE let me know. I have NO IDEA whats out there. I don’t mind going off this track if you have a good suggestion. ….THANKS

FATHER PETE’S LESSON IN TIME

Stopped of to see Father Peter Murry the Paraplegic priest we gave our laptops to. It was so good seeing how much a small act of giving has brightened up someone else’s life and expanded their access to the world.

Father Murry used to run little ministries in the most remote places in Australia. A comment he made about the aboriginals he encountered stuck with me.

“ All their troubles started when the people of the dream time met the people of the clock.”

I thought WOW am I a person of the clock? Its so true.

I have recently taken to forcing myself to remain present until the sensation of ‘time bound stress or worry has gone. Literally stopping in the middle of the street when I feel that kind of panic and not moving until I get that my presence and patience is vastly more important than my punctuality J Thanks for that Father P

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

I hate gambling – I would rather give my money away. But for a laugh we split the $15 I earnt begging/busking into 3.

We decided to pray on one note , bet the second intuitively and leave the third to chance.

Silly idea I know, but it was fun and we doubled our money. Seems chance was as profitable as prayer, and my intuition sucked haha. Quality science prevails

Anyway we later gave it to a scruffy looking old lady who looked like she was straight out of a movie. Shopping trolly full of rubbish n all. I think she was a little suspicious why someone would give her $40

SINGLE FATHER HELP

Bessie is going away tomorrow for a WEEK!!!! I am going to have my work cut out for me getting up to Canberra with BlueBelle in tow. Anyway I thought it was a good experiment to see how it felt to be a single dad.

However my blogs might get a little scruffier depending on how much sleep im getting haha

RED TAPE & Charity Snobbery

Although most of the time we have met with ‘Can do’ people on this trip we have still run across quite a few that make helping impossible.

We had hoped to help out at some homeless shelters and even arrange for a few thousand dollars to make a difference in the life of a homeless family in Melbourne. However we have met with a frustrating amount of red tape from the charities involved and even some of the people on the ground preventing this from happening.

Charity Snobbery is something i have come across before. Some charities wont accept donations less than $10,000 if you put on a function to raise money for them…… This is why i think its so important to get out and meet the real people who need the help. We will still be helping. Just NOT through official channels

TODAY

Been inviter to dinner at a refugee’s house. They came over under horrendous conditions with nothing and now spend all their time working for charities.

SPARE A DOLLAR MATE

Haven’t you ever wondered what it would feel like to be one of those beggars at the side of the street?

What if we end up having to live in a cardboard box and beg/busk for money. I thought I should get a taste for things to come so yesterday I donned my ugliest most crumpled clothing. Dug out an old Mouth Organ (I can’t play), and hit the streets outside the Casino to beg/busk until I had enough to get some food.

Well it was a lovely day so that made it more fun and people were in good spirits because within an hour I had raised over $15. So looks like if all else fails I’ll have an income stream. Although I admit it was a little humiliating at times when people looked down their noses at you my theatrical side took over and I quite enjoyed putting smiles on a few passing faces with my chimney sweep accent….’Gday guv, spare sum change for an old digger’

DAWKINS – ‘God’s not dead’ !!

Well well!! Seems even Dawkins denies being an ‘Atheist’ and is adamant there is an unarguable .1% chance GOD EXISTS!!

What a revelation! – Actually credit to him for this admission. Science reason prevails over dogma again.

I’m REALLY glad I went to this. I now think his ‘mission’ is very misunderstood.

Dawkins has no real interest in disproving GOD per se. His research is simply to expose, pseudo science, religious misinformation and unnecessary paranormal explanations, most of which were created in days gone by to describe things we didn’t understand.

If Gods DIRECT hand is removed from certain areas or functions of life, as it was when we realised he wasn’t moving the sun around the earth, your next door neighbour wasn’t flying around on a broomstick at night and epilepsy wasn’t a demon, then AMEN to the prevailing of TRUTH I say.

Provable Fact should not have to suffer at the hands of the ‘faithful’.

I believe science and spirituality are two sides of the same coin. This debate between the two is a joke. Like the mind and the body they are inseparable , one is an expression of the other, and the more we learn about our world the closer to the true, dogma free ‘god’ we get.

TODAY

DYING WISH

Today Bessie and I get to grant a wish for a young guy who’s dying wish is to release a single with his band. Thanks to Make a Wish this is going to happen and we have arranged for that song to get aired on radio

The Sunset as I walked out of the Atheist Conf – Hard to not have spiritual feelings when you see beauty like this i think.

LITTLE THINGS

We decided we hadn’t done anything to help anyone for awhile so just for fun we held the door open at the busy Melbourne convention centre for a couple of hours. Actually got talking to several interesting people and made some Japanese tourists very happy J

MAKING A DIFFERENCE, NEW FRIENDS & and an Argentinian Barbie

When people tell you that being a part of this Life Change Experiment has really helped them through hard times in their life its very humbling.

Perhaps you reading this don’t realize that your participation, comments and interaction on this site actually makes a difference in peoples lives you may never know about. Over the past 2 weeks we have had quite a number of people stop us in the street and tell us just that. So thank you for helping us make a difference. (Now that wasn’t hard was it  hehe )

One young couple who told us how much their participation on the site had helped them through a tough patch was geologists and phd students Leonor & Augustin.

This cple epitomise the spirit of The Life Change Experiment having come over to Oz knowing no English and nobody yet determined to follow their passion.  They welcomed us into their house, cooking an incredible Argentinean Barbeque and making us feel so welcome….

Thanks so much guys it meant a great deal xxxx

KATIE UNDERWOOD

Bess and I were both really touched at pop princess Katie Underwood willingness to share the real heartfelt aspects of her story. Katie sure went through a drug hell and has come out the other side with a whole new purpose for her life.
Her tips

1 Don’t believe Marijuana is harmless especially if you are using it for depression

2 Want to change? Get fed up with yourself and change your friends if they make it hard

3 Learn to listen to your ‘guides’ – Katie had some amazing experiences in this area but she pointed out that they all came from practice – Like anything else worth having you have to make the effort.

4 Finally remember there is so much more to you than the body you inhabit – Live KNOWING that!

RIGHT BY THE RIVER

Found a STUNNING spot to stay the night right in the city by the river. I reckon a hotel room in the area would be around the $450+ a night. Gotta love this lifestyle.

‘GOD’ WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS –

Well I didn’t need to sneak in the Atheist conference – Turns out one of my mates was speaking. The ‘lord’ certainly does works in mysterious ways hehe. Anyway im booked  to see all the good speakers.

Why am I going ? – Coz real life change for me means learning about all sides of the coin without judgment. In addition I think the Atheists have an important role to play as a natural balance to the order of things. Making sure the ‘faithful’ don’t leave all reason behind, like in Iran and other theocracies.

Anyway – Seems FLOW is really on form coz we woke this morning to 20 cyclists outside our door getting ready for a bike ride – Yes a bike ride for BIBLES it turns out hehe – They were raising money to take bibles to Kenya. And get this! They happened to offer us tickets to “Countering the rise of Atheism – The case for creation’ seminar on Sunday.

So looks like the powers that be are ensuring everyone gets a fair and balanced hearing (You gotta laugh at the spooky irony of it all though hey)

P.s Didnt see any horns or lightning

TODAY

Today we are interviewing pop star Katie Underwood – She had some serious drug addictions and depression and has come out of it to help many others in Melbourne.

Not really helping anyone much today – Although we thought it would be fun to stand outside Coles and help some of the older customers pack their cars. So we might do that for an hour.

READING

Bessie has got stuck into Kay Danes’ book – Standing Ground about her time in prison http://kaydanes.com/

Geoff reading Nelson Mandela’s biography – Amazingly easy to read and fascinating

Embodiment – An Access consciousness book with some good idea

The Profit – An old simple story with some amazing wisdom

Yesterdays dustbin diving was relatively successful. I got some half eaten bananas a half drunk can of coke and some past used by frozen Pizza. Don’t panic Bessie n BlueBelle didn’t have any. There was other stuff but I would have needed to be on survival exercise to have eaten it. In the Marines we regularly made short work of worms n leaves n bugs n stuff but I just aint that hungry haha.

I think I’m going to have to get up earlier and look in more places to get the good stuff.

Almost got stuck in the city. Note to self – Don’t drive a 31 foot Winnebago down Melbourne inner city back streets looking for rubbish bins haha. Anyway we decided we had enough of the city for a night so headed out of town to Knox.

Woke to discover the worlds biggest phone tower right beside us probably frying our skulls haha – But the upside was we were in the back lot of a giant Mall. So Bess was happy.  Also got to see Alice in Wonderland (not bad)

Today or tomorrow we are hoping to sneak into the Atheist conference. They sold out but since they don’t believe in god sneaking in really can’t be a sin he he. Hopefully I’ll get to interview a few since it certainly is a Life Changing perspective

I’m hoping we can find a spot to park near the docklands tonight. Melbourne is definitely the hardest place I have found to find places to sleep the night. Although the cops were good to us and the rangers just gave us a note. (I’m not sure if I was supposed to give it to my Mother or what haha)

BlueBelle got to play in ToysRus for the first time. Consumer in the making by the looks of things

Someone introduced her to a technique called Access Consciousness –  Within weeks she was entirely cured. When we met her she had a big smile, face glowing in the middle of the hustle & bustle of the camping show. Clearly now totally unaffected.

She not only offered to do the technique on me but also to teach us. And bless her heart when she rocked up to the Winnebago she had brought a bunch of Vegies and flowers she had freshly ripped out of her garden.

THE TECHNIQUE

Basically it works around changing your thinking using some tools and doing a hands on ‘Reiki like’ technique supposed to release ‘energy’.

It all sounded pretty kooky to me but hey I have given up judging these days and am reading the book written by the Chiropractor who developed the technique.

But any way you look at it Julie certainly is one hell of a testimony.

If you are interested you can contact Julie here  accessjuliesmith@gmail.com

Aries The Ram

Taurus The Bull – Ok let’s not over analyse things and let’s let go of trying to work other people out and bring our attention to ourselves. This week you will find yourself unravelling faster than you think and you’ll even surprise yourself with all the places you visit in your imagination. You are growing very fast right now and this means there will be so many new changes in your life, so please be open to all possibilities and don’t be attached to how things are to work out for you. Early in the week you will find release and this will be the beginning of something new for you. Honesty is key for you right now and it’s crucial that you allow yourself to remain open, let go of trying to protect your heart. There is nothing to protect it from except your own thoughts that you create for no reason, other than boredom.

Gemini The Twins – Let go of the drama and the stories that other people like to indulge in and be true to you. Sometimes you do things in hope that others will notice and this is because you are not taking the time to notice yourself. This week you’ll want to put your first and be sure that your choices are about you and around the things that you love to do. If others choose to follow you then so be it, but if not then it doesn’t matter but don’t make your choices around anyone else. I feel like life is trying to get your attention, to show you something you have wanted to see for quite some time, but it seems rather difficult these days to get your attention. So I feel the need to ask you this question, where are you? I’m not sure if you’ll be able to answer this question entirely right now and this is ok too. By the end of the week you’ll come to a new realisation that enables you to take the leap of faith you have been sitting on.

Cancer The Crab – It’s good news early in the week and this news will have you pulling your hands out of your pocket and wanting to be the star of your life. It feels to me that you are ready to dive into places you have only dreamt of in the past, places that you wouldn’t normally dare go. This is amazing, your new strength and love for life is beaming through you this week, and you will inspire many to want to live to the fullest. Let me ask you a question if I may, what does it mean to you to life your life to the fullest? Who are you when you are living your life to the fullest? Ok so it’s two questions, if you could please take the time to answer these two questions by the end of the week, you’ll find yourself living in this way also.

Leo The Lion – Don’t walk away from yourself, or from your own life. Once again your making it so much harder than it is. Don’t you know that pieces of the puzzle only come one at a time, your not meant to get them all together, you wouldn’t know what to do if you did. Your way ahead of yourself at the moment and you need to gather yourself back up and realise that it’s only this moment that matters. Then you need to be honest with yourself, are you doing what you are doing for you or everyone else? Your not off track at all, rather it’s just that sometimes you don’t like to listen and this can be a detriment to where you are going. Sometimes you think you can’t do what you love and then you begin to compromise yourself, and this is no way to live life. There is no need for you to compromise anything, those who love you will support and those who don’t support well let them be on their way.

Virgo The Virgin – If it’s not all as perfect as you think it should be it’s ok; this doesn’t mean you have to give up. Maybe you just missed some minor details and all you have to do is go back and see what they are and add them into your life. I don’t feel it’s a loss at all, actually if you ask me you have done so well in bringing yourself to where you are. You deserve a standing ovation, and you deserve the very best of your dreams. So please don’t give up just because it doesn’t look the way you think it’s meant to look, sometimes we get confused with what is and what we think is meant to be. You have nothing to worry about just keep moving forward. When you arrive to the end of the week, you’ll be so glad that you didn’t give up.

Libra The Scales – It feels to me that you are trying to get others to learn a lesson that is in truth for you, and I’m not sure what it will take for you to get this. Actually I do know, stop being so stubborn and open yourself up to the possibilities that you still have a lot to learn as we all do. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to realise that you are not walking your talk right now and this is ok, but you are on your way to this way of being. If you think you know all there is to know then you’ll be closed to opportunities and all the gifts that life has to offer. You’ll receive an interesting call by the end of the week that will have you questioning what you do for a living, and this is a good thing.

Scorpio The Scorpion – You will notice some of the ways of your behaviour this week that you have judged in others. I can’t tell you how great this is because it’s reminding you to love all of yourself, which reminds you that you are whole and never in pieces. It is such a massive opportunity when we get to experience our own ways through other people’s behaviours and actions. This is a good week to pick up some major life lessons as it feels to me that you are really paying attention this week. It will be worth your while to stand up on your own two feet and express yourself to someone you don’t normally do this with. You’ll be surprised as to how well it turns out for you and how much of a relief it will be for you; actually it will be one massive milestone.

Sagittarius The Archer – You’re really beginning to step up in your life dear Sagittarius and this is great news. The week ahead brings much sunshine your way and it feels to me that you’re no longer interested in playing small. Something tells me that you’re ready to play big, and ready to take this leap of faith. It’s at the beginning of the week that you will come to this realisation and when you do, there is a knowing within you that you will tap into to. This means that you won’t have time to drop the ball or to even scratch your head but if you ask me you wouldn’t have it any other way. If you know you are ready for the world then know that the world is ready for you.

Capricorn The Sea goat – There isn’t time this week to be making excuses and wasting time in hope that no one will notice. Pull your socks up dear Capricorn and keep it real, with all the things you want to experience in your life you need to keep it real. Allow me to remind you that what ever you do in your life you are doing it to yourself. This means be kind or cruel you are being what you are being to yourself, not anyone else. You know better than anyone else when you are fooling yourself and it feels to me that you will face yourself this week. Of course this is not a threat or anything negative it’s simply words to remind you to be true to yourself and others. You have nothing to prove to anyone and once you realise this then you can stop trying to hard.

Aquarius The Water Carrier – You will be proud of yourself this week dear Aquarius and there will be good news available to you also. As the week begins please be sure that you are as present and alert as possible as there will be some interesting messages coming your way and you’ll really need to be sharp to pick them up. It feels to me that mid-week you will make up your mind about someone or something in your life and once you make up your mind you’ll see where it all goes. It’s as though things hadn’t quite moved forward as you hadn’t quite made up your mind. Gee what happens when you just make up your mind and allow yourself to step up to your choices, well done.

Pisces The Fishes – You have nothing to worry about and the sooner you realise this then the sooner you will be able to just relax. It has nothing to do with your circumstances but what it is you truly love in your life and if you know what you love then let go of the worry. You’ll be so excited when it comes to the middle of the week that you’ll barley know what to do with yourself, please remember to keep your feet on the ground. You know it’s just a matter of trusting that the thing you love in your life will show up, but it’s not up to you how it shows up and if you can remember this then it’s all sweet! By the end of the week you will realise that you were right about someone, and you’ll be smiling.

Here I was this morning lying in our Winnebago bed, butt nekid and slap bang in the middle of Melbourne City, parked in a little lane near the showgrounds. The sound of horses hoofs clopping by my window on their way to training at the track and the rustle of leaves competing with the clatter of distant trams. Magical.

Yesterday I woke to the sound of crashing waves and the smell of the ocean parked snugly in a little nich off the Great Ocean road and tomorrow? Who knows. That will be up to my whim, my new found skills as a top spot hunter and my buddy Google maps.

There is something incredibly exhilarating and primal about free camping. It feels for me almost like it’s the way things are supposed to be. Every night hunting down a fresh new spot. Seeing if I can out do my last stunning vista. Or looking for a totally new aspect altogether. Wondering just how much the poor sucker whose house I’m parked in front of paid for his view, that I now share for FREE. Or drinking in the novelty and my brilliance and another secret little hide away well hunted down.

Uggg yes its all very cave man. But to be honest I think that aspect of life may be one of the great losses in modern society. No more hunt n kill, Search and provide. A comfortable box and a Woolworths takes care of all that. So what’s a bloke left to do?

Ahh but out here on the road the sense of the hunt is still alive. What do I fancy tonight? Will it be a cliff top I can see for miles on, a cozy gully surrounded by mountains, a super convenient inner city spot or a ‘life on the open road’ gypsy like truck stop.

The people out here are different too. They all say hello and they’ll all give you a smile and a hand if you need it. You have a common thread and there is an instant feeling of comradery rather than competition.

You’ll see places and talk to people you never knew existed every single day and because of that the mind opens that bit wider, troubles of the past seem that much smaller, and the opportunities become that much clearer.

It takes a while to click into the natural groove of the road. But when the scales eventually fall from your eyes life seems so much richer and rewarding than before. Lets face it we were hunter gatherers for hundreds of thousands, even millons of years. Just because we have an ipod & a pair of Prada shoes doesn’t make it not so now!

Out here the world really feels like your Oyster. Things you never thought you would do or see seem that much more achievable. And everything seems that much more possible

It might not be for you, but if you think its time to shake up the old you, get your gypsy on and get out here n join the party