Aspirational Thoughts Book Tour: 85-venues, 70-days, 60-cities, 33-states, 11,990-miles…
15 November 2024The Aspirational Thoughts • Inspirational Images Book Tour stopped at 85 homeless shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries, veterans’ facilities, abused women’s shelters, juvenile detention centers, treatment centers, family shelters, respite facilities, HIV positive-only shelters, Salvation Army’s, business organizations, church groups, LQBTQ-only shelters, schools, hospitals, TV stations, radio stations, podcasts, and bookstores to deliver the message of hope found in Aspirational Thoughts • Inspirational Images.
While we begin to edit hundreds of hours of footage for a documentary, here are a few things I learned from visiting 85 shelters/venues in 70 days, covering 11,990 miles over 60 cities in 33 states, putting us in front of 5,000+ homeless:
• Don’t judge, care. Of the 5,000 homeless we met, 70% were lucid, educated, well spoken.
• More people are 1 paycheck away from being unhoused, or 1 paycheck away from being off the streets than you can imagine.
• 1/3 of those we met are happy being homeless, many happier than you and me. They want to live off the grid and don’t want or need our help.
• There are excellent models out there that are truly solving a problem that will never go away, and many shelters that could learn from them.
• Next time you see a homeless person I suggest you go out of your way and simply ask their name, then introduce yourself and tell them they matter. It will be uncomfortable.
• You want to change the world? The world is seen through the eyes of 1, not the eyes of 8 billion. When you change someone’s world through an act of caring, you have indeed changed the world, their world. The only world they know.
• I thought my greatest effort in endurance was reflected in my 7 Badwater 135-mile Ultramarathon finishes in 125° heat in Death Valley. I was wrong. Performing at 85 shelters (18 different kind of care facilities) in 70 days proved harder.
Aspirational Thoughts • Inspirational Images, An Art Gallery & Teacher – A Photography Exhibit & Mentor contains 135 contemplative photographs taken by me + nearly 300 evocative thoughts, quotes, and ideas curated over 10 meditative chapters: ACTION, INTROSPECT, BREATHE, LAUGH, LEGACY, DEATH, RISK, HOPE, GOD, and LOVE.
If you don’t have your copy yet…buy from Amazon (Audible, Kindle or Hardcover), or autographed from us via this page where you can read the Introduction + 2 free chapters, listen to an Audile sample, watch the book trailer, read reviews, etc.
P.S. The documentary that we’re working to bring to Netflix is tentatively titled:
85 Shelters | 70 Days | 60 Cities
Homeless Hope
An Unconventional Author On An Unconventional Book Tour
