Hi Becky,
I just found your blog and have been reading your stories today. I have found them uplifting and inspirational. I took a year off and did some traveling - was the hardest year of my life. But, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Now, I wish for a more free flowing lifestyle instead of the 9-5. Working on increasing my business so I can quit the 9-5 and also saving money so maybe I can take time off for another Spiritual journey.

Thanks for sharing your journey. I love your sense of humor and your courage.

Congratulations on winning the contest.

Wishing you peace and joy,
Kaycie

Becky,

I hope to go to lunch with you before you leave Danville. If not, thank you so much for your help. As suggested, I went to a writer’s group. Many times contests winners said the my writing is beautiful or wonderful.A screenwriter said he knew what my next novel would be about- George Washington and his illegitimate son.

He said he will give me the name of his agent next time. He has sold his screen play for over 250,000 dollars and is to make a movie in South Boston.

I hope your journey for life goes well.

You are very much appreciated by me for works and wonders. I did not vote for you in the hair contest as I was busy keeping a fourteen year old dog alive.

Rick

Hi,
My name is Seth Taylor and I just stumbled across your talk at TED. I was shocked. From 1999-2000 I dropped out of University in order to conduct a 'disconnection experiment'. I moved into a 1973 VW bus and thought I'd spend a few months 'off the map'. You might be one of the few people to understand how the three planned months turned into over a year. Going in I had no idea how difficult it is to get back on the map again.

I can't even say that I reemerged on my own power. An amazing flow of coincidence conspired to fish me out. My only true achievement was that I remained open to opportunity and when it came I caught hold and was dragged back into the world again.

Since then I graduated from university, traveled and taught throughout Asia and last year married and opened a school here, in Korea. But, my experiences of a life of hiding in plain sight remain with me. Occasionally I still get fleeting glimpses of place-lessness. Years later a part of me still lives with a dog in a van parked on the side of the road in New Mexico, waiting for the sun to rise.

Thank you for your talk and for your courageousness in bringing your experience to so many. And an especially deep thank you for setting one more part of my wandering soul to rest. For so many years I have always had a part of my life that has been placeless and I still do but, it is such a relief to hear another voice calling in the wilderness.

Thank you

Seth Taylor

Seth, wow! What a story! You captured it perfectly - it is VERY hard to get back into the mainstream even when you want to! Yes. I know exactly what you are describing and how you feel. And I'm so glad hearing my story helped put some part of you at peace. There are hundreds, thousands of us. You are not alone. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I hope you stay in touch and read the blog. I'm about to launch again and have more coming up. I think it will give you a chance to revisit that time and integrate it even more!

Seth, wow! What a story! You captured it perfectly - it is VERY hard to get back into the mainstream even when you want to! Yes. I know exactly what you are describing and how you feel. And I'm so glad hearing my story helped put some part of you at peace. There are hundreds, thousands of us. You are not alone. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I hope you stay in touch and read the blog. I'm about to launch again and have more coming up. I think it will give you a chance to revisit that time and integrate it even more!

i would very much like to talk with you, but not on a public form… thank you for sharing on TED, do you have an email to reach you? thanks, cheri

Hi Becky,
I just watched your TED talk. Thank you for sharing your incredible journey and your message about the value of hope. I'm writing because I'd like to send you a book I wrote if you are interested. The book, Be the Hero, is a Wall Street Journal business bestseller and talks about similar themes of how the way you think about yourself and your world in many ways creates who you will become.

If you send your mailing address to me at [email protected] I would be happy to send you a copy of the book.

Once again, thank you so much for your message.

Noah Blumenthal

Hi Becky

My name is Laura Lavigne and I am a writer and a life coach. I also host a weekly radio talk show called “Chez Laura - Let's talk about life!”

Becky, would you be willing to meet me on the air for one hour? I would very much love this and I know that my listeners would also.

Please let me know what you think.

Laura

dear becky;

i just saw your video on ted. i was a freelance web designer and i had a similar year in 2009. i just recently found a house rented by a group of girls who split rent and i have a home now. for 6 months … i lived similar to what you spoke about and had the same revelations.

my grandmother died and my family fell apart immediately. i went into a deep deprression and … well , you know.

i am so happy to know i am not alone in having that experience.

HOPE is right! I also think there's something to be said about will power as well

Nice to find you on TED!

Thank you,

Brooke Schooles

Hi Becky, I heard you on the TED talks. I lived out of an old Ford truck for almost a year when i was 23. I understand what you say about the alienation and depression, the isolation that can come from not having an address. I also chose that life so that I would have time. Time to think and feel and heal. There was something very useful about the problem solving, the deep exercise of coming to be 'at home' in each moment. Whenever I travel now, at 47, and manage to find a safe, free place to sleep, that time returns to my consciousness as I calm my heart and see the stars. (I try as much as possible to sleep on the ground, and find that contact calming.) One difference I think, is that I was in the West. Last year on a long circle through the Southeast, I was struck by how much more difficult 'free sleeping' is in the other half of the country.
Thank you for your story. And continued best travels to you.
Linda

Awesome story, good for you. Although I have never been homeless, I have always known that the worst thing about being homeless would be that people pretended that you didn't exist.
I have always made sure to acknowledge them and it uplifts me as much as them. I currently have
a homeless friend, Victor. He tries so hard to do everything he can to help himself get out of his situation. I assist him and give him hope as best I can. We have lunch at least once a week. It is interesting, but as I uplift him, I am uplifted. I currently work with Non Profits as well, I have launched a volunteer rewards program in Atlanta, http://www.DoGoodGetRewards.com. There are many organizations doing their best, but still Victor is homeless, even though he tries so hard to get a job or an any program that might be of help. I have been his friends for 2 or 3 months now. I wish you could talk to him and write something about him. I think softening peoples hearts about homelessness can only help. I was so glad to hear your story on TED. Your experience and the fact that you have stepped up to share it with the public is a precious gift to all of us.
Much Appreciation

Hi Becky,

Thank you for telling your story. Very courageous and honest.

3 years ago I began a journey filming a homeless man in Corvallis, Oregon. Corvallis has been recognized as one of the best places to live in the US on numerous occasions. It’s also been recognized as one of the smartest places in the US. What I found is that, in Corvallis, the homeless are not invisible, rather they are seen and disparaged. The local shelter (incorporated) does not allow anyone suffering from alcoholism to stay there and it’s well publicized. As the executive director puts it “We only take in people who want to change their lives.” While the intent is honestly to help those most likely to change their lives, thereby getting the most out of the donated dollars that run the shelter, an unacknowledged result of this characterization is that the people remaining on the street are seen as people who have chosen to be there. Corvallis has made watch lists for violence against it’s homeless population. A fraternity member shot a homeless man looking for cans behind his fraternity. Three youths beat another homeless man to death. There’s a city ordinance against ‘illegal camping’ that other cities have struck down as unconstitutional. What I came to appreciate, albeit from behind a camera, is the unique misery visited upon these people in knowing how they are perceived and reviled by the majority of the house who populate the city. How this weighs upon them without articulation except through escape into a bottle, and how this only perpetuates the entire cycle.

In many ways, Corvallis is a city that is lost. The pinnacle of what we’ve achieved as a society that has compartmentalized empathy to a social service job. I’m hoping my film will be a conduit for dialogue and discussion. Anything you might do to help spread the word about this project would be most appreciated. You can find out more at http://www.neverwalkaway.com

Thank you,
Jeff Hess

Nov. 20/09 - I watched your TED presentation tonight and I just had to write to thank you for your “hope” message. I am struggling with depression and I look forward to a future time when my spirit soars and happiness returns. Until then, I will grasp hope and never let go.

Thank you again!

Wes
Canada

Hi Becky,

I just came across your talk on TED….simply inspiring. I don't have a similar story, I just wanted to let you know how yours touched me.

thanks
sean

Thanks Sean! I do appreciate your letting me know!

Becky,
I'm listening to your program w/ Laura from Tuesday and I wanted to share how you've inspired me. I found your talk on TED a few weeks ago and have been following your blog posts ever since. About 5 years ago, I quit my job to follow my dreams of being a writer and voice-over actor. You can check out some of my work on my website: http://www.3twins.net (we offer free family friendly cartoons and comics). Anyhow, about three months after I did this we discovered that my wife was pregnant and we discussed it as a couple and decided that I would continue to follow my dreams in addition to taking care of our baby.

I have to tell you, even though we are still a one income family, I couldn't be happier with my job situation, because I'm doing the things I love and I get to spend the entire day with my beautiful daughter (who is nearly 4 now).

But I can relate to your statements about beginning to believe what people say about you. I have gotten a lot of guff from my family, my wife's family, and some of our friends. I've been called a deadbeat dad, a failure, lazy, and a sponge off of my wife, among many other things. And I began to believe that maybe I was those things. My wife in all of this has been wonderfully supportive and believes in my dreams and aspirations. However, I have struggled with depression often, but I mask it well and put on a “happy face.”

Now, I'm in the process of going back to school, at University of Phoenix online, to get an associates degree in business and then a bachelors degree in e-business (a new program that just started) and I'm starting to feel proud of myself and my accomplishments, not like I'm a lazy deadbeat who's “chasing foolish dreams.

I wanted to share that you have been a big part of helping me change my mindset and raising my internal self worth. I am still in the same “place” as before, my situation hasn't changed, but my outlook has and I would like to thank you.

Thank you,
Jason Kuder

Hi Jason

I am so, so glad you tuned in to the show and that you we re able to take some good stuff with you, straight from Becky's wisdom.

You are a wealthy man in all the ways that count and I am honored to connect with you.

Merry Everything and Happy Always to you and yours!

Laura Lavigne
PS this sentence of yours “I have struggled with depression often, but I mask it well and put on a “happy face” makes me think that you may find next Tuesday's show interesting. http://www.tinyurl,com/talkshow-Ed (this one will be pre recorded so you will not be able to call in but I would love to hear your comments later).

Thanks for sharing your life story at TED.

I'm in a similar situation, getting invisible little by little…but I got hope and I think I was missing that util I saw your video.

Thanks again from Argentina, and please apologize me for my poor english skills.

Have a great life.

Becky, I just read your comment on Daniel Pink's interview by Seth Godin. I like the way you described the apprenticeship process. We need more apprenticeship or mentoring programs. We need to demonstrate that there is value in experience. Somethings need to be learned over time. There is no doubt that some people have gifts that transcend experience but for the rest of us there is not substitute for learning over time.

Thanks John! Appreciate the feedback. We DO need more apprenticeship programs - no doubt. Society is moving towards artisanship and craft - away from mass production so much. Those who are ready for the pendulum swing will be rewarded!

Hi Becky. Last year I found Phil Zimbardo's speech on Heroism, Good and Evil on TED.
I had started the journey that you can see on REPEACE.com and on the newly launched group on Facebook. Besides being deeply touched by your humanity, your determination and your ability to keep a positive outlook, I was sparked by your words: “I am a very curious person”, and “Hope will always find a way”. Thank you for sharing your experience. I think curious and hopeful people are a rarity.

My questions, when I started my journey with my new project of Peace were:
-How is it possible that we 're 9 Billion people and less than 1% owns more than the rest?
-How is it possible that, even by a touch of good luck, someone doesn't come up with an idea that benefits people and empowers them, the cynical, the disenfranchised?

That's when, after observing a rise in demand for peace symbolism around me, in SF, I decided as a Designer and Social Psychologist, to build a new vehicle of hope, that can unite the world behind the fight against corruption and greed. Repeace is based on the defintion that Peace is the absence of fear, and hence attributes to Corruption and greed the sources of wars, predatory loan practices, health Insurances rip offs, Higher Students tuition, Oil price gauging, and, worst of all useless wars. I know that it doesn't matter how we get to peace, as long as we get there soon. Driving a new image and aiming at a new target, that is in the way of all progress, is just a different way to use the word peace, and modify it just a bit, to give it a sense of action and take it into the 21st century.

My journey as social enterprise is in a good phase, and I am starting to get important endorsements, but, as I am alone, I don't have many who believe in me or my idea. I would like to catch your interest for blogging, support, networking. When I find my first investors to implement all the ideas behind repeace, I will be glad to have a group of allies I can bring in to work with me for hire.

There are plenty of talented people that are not found on the usual paths. I think you're one of them and I hope more people find you.

I read your Famous Homeless People article, you never know what trials and tribulations you face. Are you also a writer for change.org? If so, I was trying to contact you about Jason J. Day a homeless Marine Veteran who is pedaling 2800miles from FL to CA for Homeless and Christian Recovery. He can be reached at 404-769-1245 or at http://www.savedliferide.com. Keep up the great work!

Thank you! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you do with social enterprise….Not many people will support you or me or people like us - until we have momentum. We have to focus and believe in our own ideas and work at them. Most 'overnight' successes take ten years or more. Don't look for investors as much as believers. See Seth Godin's book, Tribes, or watch his videos. It's not about getting funding as much as getting people who believe in your vision. Sounds like you have some great ideas - now implement them and the rest will fall into place!!

Thank you! I'm really looking forward to seeing what you do with social enterprise….Not many people will support you or me or people like us - until we have momentum. We have to focus and believe in our own ideas and work at them. Most 'overnight' successes take ten years or more. Don't look for investors as much as believers. See Seth Godin's book, Tribes, or watch his videos. It's not about getting funding as much as getting people who believe in your vision. Sounds like you have some great ideas - now implement them and the rest will fall into place!!

Hi Becky,
Thank you sososos much. You are awesome and I cannot thank you enough for what you wrote about our story. Thank you.

Michelle Gagne
Call me today if you can.

Thanks Michelle! I edited out your phone number…but otherwise, thank you!! I'll call later today!

Hi Becky,

I am really glad you found me… I am looking forward to working with you, since you seem to be so much more than 'just a PR writer'.

Groet, Marijke

Oh Mariijke! I am so much more! lol!!! And I love your site!!

Becky

Hi Becky

Loved your story. It was one of those moments of hearing someone get my life!!

At the end of 2008 my husband and I had a rush of blood to the head. We sold up our lives in Australia and decided to spend a year driving across the US/Canada with daughter (8) and dog in tow. We'd been well paid consultants in Australia and felt confident we'd pick up work along the way.

Over the course of the year, however, we earned less than $1500. We were technically and effectively homeless and were it not for fabulous friends and family we would have been destitute.

I blogged our travels and my husband took fabulous photographs and everyone told us how amazing we were and how much they envied us. Meanwhile behind the scenes I cried myself to sleep and had my first face to face with depression. I felt guilty, and stupid and fearful and like a fraud. And at the same time we had the most amazing experiences and met the most incredible people. It was a life changing experience on so many levels.

In New York we volunteered at a homeless shelter. One of the people confronted my husband abusively about the fact that he only had a $100 in the bank. My husband just laughed, because it was more than we had! In that moment though we realised there was a difference between us and that guy. We had no money no jobs a kid and a dog to support, but we always believed that there was a solution. That we could turn things around and that there were people who would help us do it.

And it's amazing how quickly things changed. We left the US in December and we're now camped with my husband's family in Ghana. We've got work coming at us from all angles and facing the prospect of earning exceptionally well this year.

What's the one thing I wish I'd known at the beginning? That we'd get through it.Then maybe I might have chilled out and kept my talents and potential and love of life firmly within my grasp.

Keep telling your story.

Fiona

Thank you for your beautiful talk at TED. God Bless.
John Simon

Thanks John! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Always nice to hear from folks who saw it!

I was homeless for 2 years. I now have a clear understanding of “see a need, fill a need.” I currently live in a very small apartment with my husband in harrisburg pa. When we were homeless we had the privlidge of staying at the thurman brisban center in fredericksburg va. I firmly believe that harrisburg needs thier own version of the TBC. I am contacting you to try to understand how to start soething like that. I don't have much money, but I have an entire lifetime I want to donate. I volunteer and my husband is involved as well. We were homeless together. Please if you could point me in the right direction! feel free to give my email to anyone who could help! Thank You So Much! Beth

Kia Ora-Good Health Becky.
Just heard your interview on Radio New Zealand National with Catherine Ryan. Awesome and inspiring.
I am 51 yo unemployed seaman.Have been on welfare now10 months. Mother died in Dec. Although I am not homeless all other aspects of your story resonate. I have considered buying a van to live in long before my downturn? in life? I am not a user of the net in general but felt inspired after hearing your interview.
Thank You.

GULF STREAM RV IS A COMPANY THAT DOESN'T STAND BEHIND ITS PRODUCT.

I PURCHASE A 2008 36 FOOT MOTOTHOME WITH SOME ISSUES AND GULF STREAM DOESN'T WANT TO HELP ME IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE.

ANY IDEAS ???

SEND INFO TO : [email protected]

John, please contact Michelle Gagney at: http://michgagne.weebly.com. She has been fighting Gulf Stream RV for years and has a lawsuit pending against them. She has photos and information at her site. My suggestion is to start a blog about your problems with them. Upload photos. Tweet (Twitter.com) and call your local newspaper to complain. Post an ad on Craigslist to find other owners and find a good attorney. Good luck!!

Becky, I read your homeless for the holidays, very well written. I have one disagreement and that would be the Angel Food ministry, it is not worth it. The food is overpriced and quality is very low. You would be better off getting groceries from Aldi s or the dollar store.

“Approve”

Thanks for letting me know. I have used them once or twice and the quality was good, but it varies all over. I prefer Aldis because I am not restricted to when I can shop! And they have great prices!

Hi Becky….thank you so much for the comment on Izzy and Tim's Podcast…it reflected what has been my experience and great success and greatg failure…why do people continue to fall for get rich schemes and for so much disinformation in general…it's amazing….Tim and Izzy podcast is very valuable but there is that “get rich” selling technique there, isn't there….this morning i was just telling my wife how the new generation is brilliant in so many ways but they don't know how to write or talk…well, do come to Rome sometime and visit us…it would be a pleasure to speak with you and give you a tango lesson….by the way here is my new blog, do you have any suggestions for improving it….thanks again http://todayintango.wordpress.com/

Becky, just saw your Ted talk….there are no words to express the feelings it evoked….”hope always find a way”…..yep 14 years ago I did a crazy thing and moved to Florence Italy, which was my dream, even though I did not have any money, did not speak the language and did not know anyone…well, it has been bigger than my dreams and greater than my imagination; Italy is magic…come visit me someimte

Oscar, Thank you! You're a brave man! It's hard enough surviving in a country where you do know the language and have no friends!! I'm glad it turned out to be bigger than your dreams!!! London and Oxford were magic and that was my first time out of the country - so I can appreciate the magic! If I'm in Italy - I will indeed visit!

I wouldn't change a thing actually - except perhaps to have a landing page or an “about” page that explains the Tango's history, origin and highlights for the total novice to the dance. Other than that - it's beautiful! Clean, brilliantly designed, easy to navigate, crisp, informative. Very nice!! Well done!