The Giant Benjamin Project is about reaching out to the youth and young adults who have, or still are struggling with mental health challenges. It's also about creating environmental awareness, how important it is to our mental and physical wellbeing, and our responsibility as stewards of the planet that is in our care. 'The bush is where you get headspace'. The aim is to achieve this by cycling around Australia and sharing my own story: Searching for Pearls. It is a message of love. Rather unexpectedly, I am now also trying to raise some additional funds to help repair my van which, last week, just 760km into the ride, broke down. The crankshaft timing gear retaining bolt sheared off which caused the timing gear to work its way off the crankshaft and throw out the timing while my support driver was bringing food and water to me on a very stormy day on the road. The van is now at the workshop in Perth, looking at a new head, valves and many hours in labour to get it back on the road to enable the Project to continue as planned. Alternative arrangements are underway so I don't miss my window to get across the top of Australia during the dry season. WHAT HAPPENED AND WHEN: Life is full of twists and turns (the loss of my support vehicle for the Project being one of them!). For me, the road took its first sharp turn soon after my parent’s break-up when I was 11 years old. The events that ensued in the years following their break-up, the significance they had on the direction of my life, and the journey, insights and adventures, that evolved out of it is contained in the pages of my book, Searching for Pearls. HOW WILL THE FUNDS RAISED BE USED: The funds raised will be used to print 1000 copies of my book, which I will donate to various youth community support groups, mental health organisations, and individuals across the country. Funds will also be used for project expenses: support vehicle engine repair now being the major expense. Donations of $250 and over will receive a signed copy of my book. I am fundraising for 2 organisations: 1 mental health (headspace) and 1 environmental (Bush Heritage Australia). It is my belief that a healthy mind needs a healthy environment; that nature gives humanity its sanity. WHY AM I ASKING FOR SUPPORT: The Project has personally cost me over $30K. While this has been a long-time ambition of mine to give something back to Australia and its community, I am seeking the support of the wider community to help me successfully complete the Project by reaching out to youth around the country with my book and my inspirational ride. A BIG THANK YOU: I can't begin to thank you all enough for the support received to make this dream a reality. But I would like to make a point—that the money received will inevitably help young Australians across the nation in ways that you and I can't conceive. Those changes, albeit small to begin, I hope will continue to ripple out through time and space in ways unimaginable. The Project is well underway. The funds raised so far have all contributed to making this possible and any additional funds that come through will assist with Project expenses and the printing of as many books as possible. THE STORY OF GIANT BENJAMIN: I believe every child has a childhood friend, whether or not they remember them. Mine was Giant Benjamin. From as early an age as I can remember Giant Benjamin used to visit me, night after night, in my dreams. He could fly, and he travelled around helping people. I first told my mother and father about Giant Benjamin when I was 4. I was, and still am, Giant Benjamin. As I got older I dreamed of Giant Benjamin less often, until one day he ceased to be part of my dreams anymore. For years, I yearned for his return and the adventures we (I) had without the restrictions of an earthbound misfit. The sensation, and freedom, of flying was a life without limits. While my earthbound life took hold of my mind-scape and the strings of everyday life tied me ever more firmly to this physical world, the spiritual world regressed into the background. But I never forgot Giant Benjamin. My book, Searching for Pearls, is a metaphor for ‘Seeking that which is precious in life.’ It is a journey of growth and discovery seen through the eyes of a young man dealing with the side effects of an unsettled youth; of the human and spiritual sides of life and how they weave together in nature and the understanding that everything in the universe in interconnected in ways we can only dream of understanding. It is an adventure. Life is an incredible gift, and we all must find the things that make it worthwhile living for - 'the pearls'. The things I consider most precious are: family, friends, community, love, compassion, wisdom, insight, intuition, sharing, truth, integrity, courage, personal growth, spiritual growth, Earth, environment, nature, the list goes on… And, quite literally there is the search for a pearl – a symbol of purity and spiritual growth that is connected to the ocean, and other adventures in Searching for Pearls that helped shape and mould the person I am today. Searching for Pearls has undergone countless drafts and name changes since its inception in 2005, when I was working on a pearl farm in the Kimberley, in northwest Australia. At that time, a voice came to me and simply said, ‘You have to write a book.’ I was 22 years old at the time. The voice came more often and always with the same instruction, ‘You have to write a book.’ I finally asked, ‘But what am I going to write about?’ And the voice simply replied, ‘You already know, you already have a story to tell.’ And so the journey began. In 2017, when I started cycleME, the idea emerged of how I would deliver this story to the youths and young adults I wanted to reach out too. The people I believe this story is for and whom will most benefit by reading it. I would cycle it around Australia. That journey would be called: The Giant Benjamin Project. That’s the experience I bring to The Giant Benjamin Project; the experience that is the stone I throw into the pond of life. Perhaps the ripples will reach far and wide. I invite you to join me on this journey, look forward to sharing it with you, and hope that I can shed some light on the paths of a few lonely travellers along the way. Benjamin O’Neill GBP 2022