Three years ago I was debating with myself over whether or not to enter an essay contest that a friend told me about. The contest was being sponsored by Robert Bigelow and his newly-created institute, the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies (BICS). I read over the contest rules, and to a layperson like me it was daunting. They wanted 25,000 words (basically a short book) in a persuasive essay answering the question: “What is the best available evidence for the survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death?”

The prize money from BICS was generous, but the effort it would entail was huge. And, more than likely I figured I probably wouldn’t win anything and all of that work would have been wasted effort. But I knew I couldn’t win anything if I didn’t enter. So I took the leap and began writing.

My gut feeling was that the judges were looking for “scientific” evidence, none of which I had. All of my evidence is experiential. Regardless, for several months I wrote, and wrote, and wrote 24,974 words about my near-death experience and how I remained conscious throughout the entire episode. The writing was an exhausting exercise in increasing stamina. By the time I submitted the finished essay, so had 1,300 other people.

Twenty-nine of those 1,300 essays were chosen as winners. I was stunned when I was named as one of the winners! I feel so honored to be included in that group. I recently had my essay published into a book Eyewitness to the Afterlife: My Two Weeks in Heaven.

Check it out!