Dear dudes on the Buried Life...

Guys, my wife and I watch the show after we put the kids to bed and we love it. We are Canadians living in San Jose CA. I am 32 years old.
Last year I got very sick, spent 30 days in hospital after H1N1 and West Nile Virus I had to relearn how to walk. Funny thing was I am a Hall of Fame Lacrosse player, played for team Canada in two sports and have won a world championship. You can imagine walking with a cane is a tough pill to swallow.
I have stayed positive and am determined to make something good and much bigger than me out of this situation. I decided that what made me who I was before in life was that I pursued my dreams and I was very good at it. So I am getting back to that, something simple but it’s what makes childhood so incredible. Why shouldn't it make adult life just as fun?
I am going to space. I have dedicated myself to going to outer space on one of the Virgin Galactic flights and figure that it should prove inspiring to others to go from a hospital bed to outer space. The flights cost $200K, $20K is due as a deposit. I have called myself the Panhandling Spaceman and I am fund raising the entire amount $1 dollar at a time and trying to convince 200,000 people that I am a worthy recipient. The big project is to create a non- profit called the Dream Cadets that teaches children the importance of dreaming big dreams and empowers them to pursue those dreams, I think that's what will change the world in the future, Kids that feel empowered to do good in the world instead of just accepting how things are. You guys are a good example of that wouldn't you say?
So I'd love your help. It has been a tough year but I am overcoming adversity and am determined to make it the catalyst for something big and wonderful.
Check out the website http://www.iamgoingtospace.com or watch the videos http://www.youtube.com/jrmoss55
I hope you'll agree that my project is worthy and that Sweet ol' bus will come rolling up North on the 101 to help us out.
A little buried but diggin my way out,
The Panhandling Spaceman,
Jim Moss
PS Love your work

Generosity in all sizes… inspiring me as much as I am them.

As I was sure would be the case, it is proving true that journey toward my dreams will be an excellent one. I have said many times that the people along the way will be one of the most memorable parts of my project. And at the risk of sounding cliché my “trip” has already begun.

So far, I have had a 13 year old girl, collect dollars from all of her friends at school and hand me 22 one dollar bills. I have had a donation for $1000.00 come with no note attached, just the cash. Today I had a guy in the UK contact me as he is doing something similar to my project. He survived a one year long self-inflicted drug induced coma and now is returning to a childhood dream of going to space, just like me. He told me in plain English that I was an inspiration to him and that he was more determined because of it. I had an $18 donation from the players on a lacrosse team in Monterey California. On the flip side, I have had some interesting “nay sayers”, they comment on Facebook, but typically they have cast a superficial judgment and have not looked deep enough to see the good I am trying to do. When I correct their misjudgments, they don’t come back to offer a rebuttal. I hope they do read it though and learn that we are really trying to do something pure and good.

I have been taking time to write thank you cards, I have been more organized than ever and am always motivated to work away at little bits here and there as my health and time allows. It is interesting though; it is the people that are motivating me as much as I might motivate them or as the ultimate goal serves as inspiration.

I’ll be in touch again soon,
JM

Finding my LEGO spirit from childhood

Jennifer and I were at the mall yesterday and we wandered into the LEGO Store. I wanted to see what the new school of space LEGO looked like. In many ways it had changed, there were logos and cross branding and new types and styles, but its heart and soul was still the same.

The store was awesome, it was bright and filled with colors, there was tons of LEGO for kids to play with. They had high tech video stations were you could scan a box and it would play a video and show what could be done with the blocks inside. I was really very inspired and my heart was filled with memories from my childhood. It seems that I am returning to the inner nerd that was creative, and playful, loved computers and learning. (when I use the term “nerd” know that I mean nothing negative, I was in an advanced learning program as a child and I affectionately referred to us as NERDS)

The greatest part of the Lego store was when I turned around and my son was elbow deep in two tubs of LEGO blocks and was so engrossed I struggled to get his attention. It reminded me so much of myself and how LEGO made me feel as a kid. I spoke with the store manager, a guy named Matt, and he was super nice, spent some time with me, helped me look for some classic LEGO kits, and then gave me a card with the information for the LEGO charity where they support projects just like mine.


Here is the Lego Vision (taken directly from their website www.lego.com)

LEGO’s Vision

The purpose and vision of the LEGO Group is to inspire children to explore and challenge their own creative potential.

• We strive to accomplish this by offering a range of high quality and fun products centered around our building systems.

• In the hands of children, the products inspire the unique form of LEGO play that is fun, creative, engaging, challenging - all at the same time.

• This activity supports the child, giving it the special pride of accomplishment. In the process it "automatically" or playfully develops a set of future, highly-relevant capabilities: Creative and structured problem-solving, curiosity and imagination, interpersonal skills and physical motor skills - building with LEGO bricks is thus about "learning through play".

I found certain elements of this to be perfect metaphors for what I am trying to accomplish. LEGO lets you dream and create and actually build those little creations. It gives you directions that you can follow and earn a sense of accomplishment, but you can also take the pieces and build something totally abstract as well. There are so many great lessons for kids of all ages.

I am going to approach LEGO with a request for corporate partnership for the Dream Cadets, the non profit aspect of my project. It will surely prove to be interesting working with these big corporations and seeing what they have to offer, what interest I can generate and how big we can make this project.

Like the little penny stop motion movie that I made, LEGO offers a great lesson for me to return to as well;

Question: How do you complete your LEGO projects, both big and small?
Answer: One block at a time and follow your plan.

Until next time,

Jim Moss
The Panhandling Spaceman

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