A few days ago Holli and Sara, the Directors of The Goddess Project, reached out to me asking for help supporting their Kick Starter campaign. I had never heard of the project before, and I didn’t know who Holli and Sara were, but I took a look at their site and was impressed by the sheer amount of time, energy, and love these two women have put into to their dream. The Goddess Project is going to be a documentary of Holli’s and Sara’s 6 month journey across 30 states interviewing hundreds of women where they lived. Back in November 2012 they were able to successfully raise $10,000 to help them afford the long journey.
During their trip “they interviewed artists, mothers, healers, businesswomen and scholars about the life-changing experiences that shaped them to become who they are today”. They are raising money a second time around so they can hire an assistant editor, sound designer, and a team of mixed media artists to help illustrate the powerful concepts discussed in these interviews. Their fundraiser has 8 more days to go and they still need to raise $28,341.
I am so curious to see the end product of their journey. I expect the documentary will be highly inspirational and help us prove what so many of us know already: that women are change makers, whether it be at the grassroots level or at the oft-touted, and simultaneously lamented, upper echelons of American society. I immediately donated enough money to land me some of their cool Goddess pins and a sticker for my car.
Yesterday I emailed Holli and Sarah back asking them a few questions about their tour of America. They replied back last night with some answers:
Who helped decorate the bus?
An amazing artist by the name of Michelle Robinson! One night we serendipitously came across her art online and we instantly fell in love. We decided to contact her and ask her if she would be interested in painting our bus and she responded saying yes! Just a few weeks later we got together with her, her sister, and a handful of some other amazing folks and transformed our little brown school bus into a beautiful, inspiring art car! We had the pleasure of interviewing her before we left for our trip, you can hear the whole story here:
How did you find the women you interviewed?
As we made our way across the country, we found women in the most serendipitous and magical ways! Initially we reached out to them through the internet and by word of mouth but as we traveled from city to city, our brightly painted bus became a magnet that attracted amazing women everywhere we went! At each destination we were approached by inspiring women from all walks of life who felt called to share their stories.
When you started, did you have a set agenda of places to go, or did you follow the trail so to speak?
When first embarking on the trip all we knew was that we wanted to visit at least 30 states and interview as many women as we could find. Neither of us had traveled across America by car before so we planned on staying open to the flow of things each day. We ended meeting inspiring ladies in coffee shops, at rest stops, and even through Twitter while driving on the highway! Each day we woke up in a new city and we never knew what kind of wild adventure would unfold, but we always had faith that our intuitions would lead us exactly where we needed to go.
How often did you find yourselves relying on the goodness of strangers?
All the time! Living for 6 months in a 6×10 bus in the middle of summer ended up requiring a lot of help from kind strangers along the way! One night, we found ourselves trying to get some sleep in our bus in New Orleans when it was still blazing hot outside and we we’re in a bad part of town, so we had to keep the windows shut. We layed there pouring water on ourselves wondering if we could survive the night in that kind of heat. Suddenly there was a knock at our door. It was a woman we had met earlier that day who insisted we come stay with her. We followed her back to her place just down the street and had a beautiful night’s sleep in her air conditioned den. That’s just one example from so many other incredible acts of kindness we experienced. We were constantly amazed by the amount of people out there who are ready and willing to help you out in a time of need!
Of all the women in both your lives, who inspired you?
One of our personal heroes is Eve Ensler. From her playwriting to her global activism, she is a force of nature! She is a woman who has devoted her life to be a voice of change and an example of how instrumental just one person can be in changing the lives of so many! We were lucky enough to have her reach out to us when we were about half way through the journey and her organization One Billion Rising became a producer of the film! We are so honored to have her on board, she is such an inspiration to us!
If you are interested in seeing Holli and Sara’s journey firsthand, consider donating to their campaign and spread the word through social media!
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