LIFE CHANGE EXPERIMENT

WE'D HAD ENOUGH

As best-selling Authors, TV & Media personalities, it seemed that happiness was always 'just around the corner'. My husband and I had spent 15 years pursuing 'meaning' and 'happiness' through Goals, Fame, Self Improvement, the High-Life & hard work - and it seemed the more we 'got', the more we realized...... "THIS ISN'T IT!".

Life still felt empty, hollow, blah... sometimes even pointless...

THE RADICAL RE-BOOT

SO, WE DECIDED TO TURN LIFE UPSIDE DOWN

We put a clip on YouTube and 64,000 emails and 12,000,000 hits later we had given away EVERYTHING we owned for FREE to people in need. Our cars, clothing, jewelry, furniture, electronics, designer collections, 3 businesses, et all.

(NOTE:- We do not recommend this - we just felt inspired to do it at the time).

CRAZY? Perhaps. But as die hard Atheists it was our first real lesson in FAITH. NO excuses, NO retreat, NO chickening out.

So, we jumped in our van (see image below) and embarked on an 8 year, 33 countries, soul-searching adventure to find out if God was a real thing. If faith was a practical way to live or just wishful thinking, and if there was a secret to happiness we had been missing.

WISDOM HUNTING:- We lived, worked with, and interviewed hundreds of people from Gurus and Pagans, Preachers, Buddhists, Hindus, Evangelists, Hippies, Hare Krishna's, Mystics, Witches & Warlocks, Psychologists, Psychics, Atheists, and many, many more. Each one, sharing their beliefs and cultures. Sometimes we would stay a day immersed in their world-view, sometimes a month, sometimes more. It was Scary, Uncomfortable, Humbling, Exhilarating, Shocking, Challenging and, of course, utterly life-changing.

After experiencing so many alternate ways to see the world, it gave us a perspective on life that few people have the time, luxury or willingness to experience. It was not easy, at times, having nothing and giving up everything (see why we worked for free). Occasionally we thought we might be more lost than before, but we never thought of giving up. Going back to our old life was not an option.

Ultimately, through our winding, whirlwind-of-a-path we found a kind of freedom we never knew existed, a fresh start, and a new perspective on life that has changed everything. Our hunch was right: there was far, far more to life than we ever imagined, and it came in a way we least expected.

We would love to share lots more with anyone who is interested. So if you are a curious , seeking truth or a group looking for a faith based inspirational story to inspire, feel free to contact us me@bessiebarker.com

THE Quest

8 years, 33 countries, 100's of interviews, 1000's

of experiences. A soul-searching adventure to find out:

Is there more to life than we are led to believe?
Is God a real thing?
Is Faith a practical way to live?
Is there a secret to happiness?
Who has the answer? Or is all this spirituality stuff a fairytale?

WHY DID WE WORK FOR FREE?

As part of our experiment, we decided we wanted to take things to the next level by pitching in, easing burdens, solving problems, working and adding value where needed for absolutely FREE- without thought of payment, barter, time or trade. No strings attached.

Many religions talk about helping your 'neighbor without thought for yourself'. This seemed naive to us, coming from a world where everything we did was measured and paid for, but we were curious and up for the challenge.

We did things you could not have paid us to do in our previous life, shoveling tons of animal poop, cleaning public toilets, comforting the grieving, helping out in nursing homes, fixing broken businesses, marriage counseling........you name it, someone, somewhere asked us to help them do it!

I am still mystified and amazed at the miracles that unfolded when we learned to truly show others GRACE. I know it sounds nuts and I wouldn't have believed it either, but it radically transformed how we saw 'lack', 'provision' and doing life with others.

You can read more about our adventure in my latest book.