as i sit in the darkened cabin on my flight to los angeles, with nothing but engine noise and the drone of the two west country chaps that haven’t stopped talking since taking off from heathrow, i notice we are now over greenland, and, prompted by the glorious sight of the white mountain range below, i decide i should start writing a blog again.
i haven’t written one for years, and my life has changed dramatically since my last prose was penned.
my business life, my family life, my spiritual life.
i’m not religious, but definitely much more spiritual these days, and all facets of my life changing in different ways, some good, some bad, but the overall net position is very positive, and i am very grateful.
gratitude is something i am trying to work on since reading a great book by jay shetty, ‘think like a monk’ where he talks a lot about finding gratitude in everything.
i am definitely more zen, and now meditate more, do more yoga, and try to eat a plant based diet.
basically i’ve turned into a hippy.
which is ok, because i quite like hippies.
i’ve now discovered that by typing a blog, the cabin drone fades, though as i stop for a moment, i realise they are still talking, good reason to continue i conclude with my inner writer.
this more hippy like demeanour has definitely happened since returning from everest, and i remember russell brice my expedition leader, telling me i must climb this amazing mountain, as it would change my life forever, and he was right for good reasons.
everest is the reason i’m making this trip, as my fellow summiteer, joe burke and i made a pact to celebrate our summit day on the 26th may together every year.
in 2018 we visited joe in his home in livermore, a suburb, 20 miles out of san francisco, in ‘19 we hung out in london, and now, unlocked, we’re heading to meet up in vegas for a long overdue party, watch out vegas the hippies are coming.
one of the biggest changes in my life has been bigmoose, which if you’re reading this blog you will hopefully have some knowledge of bigmoose, but if not click here https://www.bigmoosecharity.co/
as you will see we have become a registered charity, and i am now steering the ship, alongside my youngest daughter and co founder chloe.
it is a massive shift from being the germ of an idea in 2014, when i attempted everest the first time, and did a fundraise for teenage cancer trust, a brilliant charity that will forever have a place in our hearts.
this fundraising changed my life, and was to be the moment i realised i wanted to help people that needed help, and with tania, tiffany and chloes assistance, we’ve built bigmoose into a thriving charity with a strong group of trustees, and some clear goals.
this year our goal has been driven by a longing for me to find a dream that scared me, since that summit five years ago.
i was pondering should i attempt to climb the very dangerous k2 in pakistan, or extend my running c.v. and do something super challenging.
but then i realised i was being very selfish, and whatever scary challenge i undertook was not serving the world, just my tiny piece of it.
so, inspired by my mentor who had sent me a video saying that “every day we are all writing our own eulogies” i changed tack.
nothing trailblazing there really, but it really made me think.
i want to do more bigmoose stuff, that helps people.
during lockdown we had been providing free therapist sessions for people that have been signposted to us, and had five people that told us that without the therapy, they would have taken their lives.
that’s pretty powerful stuff, and it got me thinking i wanna do more of that, helping people that are struggling mentally, and saving people from killing themselves.
so i messaged chloe “i have an idea” i know she hates/loves that, ha ha ha.
“i think we should try to help more people, lots more.
we have the therapists, we have more and more people being referred to us, we just need more money to pay for it.
so here’s my idea, we fundraise a million pounds?
what do you think?"
“ambitious, but we can do it” she replied.
“oh yeah, there’s something else i messaged her later, i think we should do it in 12 months”
silence.
“otherwise, there’s no end point to measure if we’ve been successful.”
silence.
“ok i’m in” came the response i’d hoped i’d get.
"it’s only 100 x £10,000’s right?”
“i guess", chloe said, taking her shoes and socks off to count. (this part is pure fiction, and only for comedic value)
and so the journey started, with me quantifying that we would only need 100 people or businesses to step up and raise £10k, which six months in on project 1million I still believe we will do.
since setting sail on our voyage i have been told that i was the lone nut, and that i needed the first follower to start a movement, and dan wood was this first follower.
after meeting up for a coffee one day, and listening to my story, just as you have read it, he excused himself to use the toilet, so I checked my phone to read a message that read “I have just finished my fourth session with graeme, he has saved my life.”
i was visibly moved when dan returned, and he asked if I was ok.
i hid the girl’s name (hannah phillips, we’ve passed the stage of anonymity now) and showed him the message.
he paused for what seemed like ages, and then said “what do you want me to do?”
he threw me with his direct questioning, and i panicked, “what would you like to do?” i responded, nervous, yet trying to seem confident.
he paused again, for what this time seemed like ages, but was probably only five seconds.
and then just like that he became the first follower.
“i’ll raise ten grand for you”
"are you serious?” i asked shocked.
"definitely, let’s do this!”
i got very emotional
i think the magnitude of his commitment overawed me, and the power of what his action was going to do for others in need really hit me hard, the genie was out of the lamp, and we were off to the races, no looking back!
I related this story to hannah recently, and she referenced this you tube clip, which i absolutely love, and it represents our journey so far brilliantly, please give it a watch
so raising the money is one thing, but spending it wisely is another, and as of today we have referred 104 people to our therapists, who on average are taking 4 sessions to get people to be signed off, or as we call it graduate, and currently we have 33 graduates, 6 of whom have said that we have stopped them taking their lives, which i hope you’ll agree is just amazing.
so.
why start back blogging, and why now?
mainly because i can’t sleep on this plane, and yes they are still talking, (note to self, always pack noise cancelling headphones for similar emergencies), and the second reason is that i have this wild premonition that you are going to read this blog, decide you are going to become part of the movement to help us save lives, and you are going to email me at jeff@bigmoose.co or whatsapp me on 07977585548 and take action by offering to fundraise, however much you want, it all goes to help others, and imagine if just one of you reading this does what dan wood did and commits to raise ten grand, what a fricking cool bar story we’ll both have for the rest of our lives, and i guarantee, you will feature in every keynote speech i ever do.
so thanks for reading, and hopefully now i’ve explained the journey to here a little, next weeks blog will be a bit more than a mini novel about insomnia and hippies, and just as a footnote, i am finishing writing this blog back in blighty, but after our red eye flight to l.a. with the current official guinness world record holders for longest conversation on a plane, tania and i landed in l.a. and decided to be tacky tourists and head for a picture at the hollywood sign, and were making our way to get the obligatory selfie, when in the distance we saw four guys approaching us, two of whom it became very quickly apparent were the jibber jabber twins, i kid you not, and as we approached they asked tania if she would mind taking a picture of them.
“oh my god, we were on the same flight” one of them exclaimed.
“amazing” shrieked another.
i stayed quiet, and harnessed my inner monk, and i tried to stop bad jeff from speaking, at least out loud.
we waved as we left them, "bon voyage, i’m gonna write a blog about you" i shouted. (in my head)
have a great week, and if less than 5 people unsubscribe, i will write another blog next week, this is not a personal challenge though, even hippies have feelings.
