We always want to strive. We always want better. That is the idea with the saints, and the spiritual life. We always want to be the best we can be. But what happens when we take too much…?

One idea is to truly balance our selves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Everything is beautiful and beneficial in the proper dose. Everything is also detrimental with out paying attention to the proper dose.

I love the idea of being saint like, and praying and being spiritual, but one of the things that I think is important to remember is that just because something is attractive does not mean that we must take it all, or do it all at once. In fact, if we do try to take it all at once we will be hurt.

Being strong is attractive to me. I love being able to lift heavy things. And I like pushing myself to get stronger. If I try to lift something that is too heavy I will hurt myself. In addition, even if I don’t try to lift something too heavy, if I am always working out and never giving myself a break I will never be able to heal and grow. My muscles will eventually deplete and give out from not receiving the proper rest. So focusing only on weight lifting and nothing else will not help me to be stronger. In fact it will probably weaken me. At the same time it is important not to rest too long. My body may get used to rest, and become weak from not exercising. BALANCE in all forms and ways of life is truly the key to being the best versions of our selves. Being able to listen to your self and to God is a very useful tool in the game of balancing ones life.

Listening is the difference between having one donut or five. It is the difference of running 1 mile your first day back rather than 10. IF you run 10 you may not be able to run the next day. But if you run 1 then you will be able to run 1 tomorrow. And before you know it 10 miles will feel like 1.

One of the lessons I learned while I was in Hawaii is that I always tried to lift too much weight before I was ready. I never gave myself a chance to develop or heal. Taking time in each of the areas physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual to evaluate where we stand is a good habit to get into. After some evaluation we can see what things we need to ever so slightly move around so that our scale is balanced. Eat a little differently, exercise more or less, have more quiet time or have more time out of your shell, study more or less, spend more time with friends, or maybe you’ve been spending too much time with friends and need to go out on your own. What I am saying is the only way to discover what needs to go on the scale, is to take a look at the truth, and notice how the moves we make are effecting are ability to balance.

In conclusion we all have things we want to work on, and we all have things that hold us back. Take a little of each. When you don’t feel like doing one or the other I might be time to give it a shot. Whether it is time to take a breath and have a rest from the things you are “getting done”, or if it is time to stop resting and get off your butt and go get something done. Just remember each is as important as the other, and just because it feels good one day, for a little while doesn’t mean that a lot of it will feel good. Switch it up, and keep it level.

Peace and love

Joshua Gray Hamilton

Harvested this HUGE banana stalk. The largest one I have ever seen. Hope you’re all well. Peep it! Dig the world. Be ORIGINAL. and DREAM BIG! Peace, Love, Aloha. -Joshua

Banana, Papaya, and Starfruit smoothie! and a little more stuff too! Dig the world BE ORIGINAL!

new video from the place I am living on Maui! Aloha!

September 6^th 2011

Today I climbed a 100+ year old tree. WOW! It was seriously like “Fern Gully” I must have seen at least 5-8 trees on my morning walk about that were 100 years old or older. One of them was a mango tree, with fruit just falling off the branches. I was amazed at the greatness and abundance of these trees. I mean, I must have only climbed 25-30% of the tree and I had to be 30-40ft high. Just as high as I have ever been in a tree before, but the other trees that I climbed stopped at 40 ft, this one just kept going up and up and up forever. If I hadn’t felt a little rushed to get to work I probably would have tried to climb a little more, but we know our lesson about trying to climb in a rush. Already learned that one thank you very much. TAKE IT EASY, one step at a time. Not to mention I was in my skivies. I really was just planning on going for a morning trek, and THEN I saw this tree and couldn’t resist, then before you know it I’m forty feet up in my underwear, looking out over the canopy over the bottom of the mountain and into the bluest ocean I have ever seen in my life. What a way to start the day.

After climbing I must have gathered at least 15 avo’s that were just laying on the ground. Didn’t even have to pick them! On the mainland that’s about 30 bucks, 40 for organic. Talk about an effortless decrease in expenses, and increase in native nutrition. : ).

Also I am really developing a huge attraction to the sounds of nature. All you can hear out here are the birds and bugs and wind, the leaves rustling in the breezy breeze. It is really beautiful. Beats the heck out of an ipod.

I am also dreaming a lot lately and continuing to grow my ideas and expand my goals. I am learning more about what I want, and don’t want and I am so thankful for that.

This all started with me learning about food, and where it comes from, and how our bodies react to it. I have learned so much in the last two years, and really grown tremendously. My first idea was just to have a farm. Anywhere, anytime, now, soon, WHATEVER! I just wanted a farm. I wanted to grow my own food. I wanted to be away from the commercialism that had been blinding me so much. Then I started to narrow it down a bit. What do you want to grow on your farm? Where do those foods grow really well? What kind of cultures to you like and want to learn from? Where is the good soil? Air? And water? Where are the people who are doing this already? Are they even out there? Haha. (They are). Once I started to learn about all these things that I wanted, then I developed THE place that I wanted to go. Maui. Little did I know that that was only the tip of the iceberg. So then I had the idea to go around and start farms all over the world, in those places that I love the most. The Tropics. Belize, Southern Mexico and Central America, South America, South Africa, Madagascar, Thailand, you know the AWESOME PLACES! The ones with the food that I like, and the cultures I want to learn from…

Then I had the idea just to be involved with already existing farms, and just go there and help and do whatever I can.

And now after meeting and being inspired by so many people who have been living there dreams for 40-50 years+ it is really showing me that I am on the right track and that DREAMS COME TRUE WHEN YOU PURSUE. The man who owns the land that I am living on now is in many ways the most inspiring person I have met on Maui. He started living on this land 32 years ago, and started planting trees before he even moved to the property. Now those trees are HUGE! And yielding abundant fruit and LOVE for everyone who would like to share. It is amazing.

So then I had the idea to go around all over the world, and just start planting trees. PLANT TREES! PLANT ANYTHING! Plants and nature are healing. They are going to heal the earth in so many ways. Not to mention they love us, they give us fruit to eat and life and oxygen to breathe. How incredible. So now I have simplified one of my goals for the moment. It is just to plant as many trees as I can. Papayas, Avocados, Bananas, Mangos, Apple trees, orange trees, whatever because one day those trees are going to get really big, and they are going to feed some one just like me. And how much effort does it take to plant a tree? NONE! Especially when you live on MAUI> HENSE MY MOVE! (Sorry MOM I LOVE YOU and MISS YOU a lot).

Anyway that’s my story for Wednesday September 6, 2011. Peace and love be with you all. DIG THE WORLD BE ORIGINAL. DREAM BIG! Keep coming back for more updates. And tell your friends. I can use all the support and feed back I can get right now. And LIKE ORIGINALAND on Facebook. Peep out the youtube channel as well.

Aloha

Joshua Gray Hamilton

Aloha.  September 6^th 2011

So September 2^nd was my one-month in Maui celebration. Pretty amazing! I am really excited. I keep telling those who I have talked to lately, that it is all the things I pictured. Yesterday I moved from a room that I was renting in town(Kahului/Wailuku), to a new place in north Wailuku/Waiehu area. Google it if your interested. The new place I am living is back in the tropical forest, with streams and fruit trees to die for.

I remember sitting on my couch in Raleigh, NC making videos, and talking on the phone and writing and wondering “WHY IN THE WORLD PEOPLE DON’T JUST LIVE ON A FARM AND GROW THEIR OWN FOOD?” and I just couldn’t understand why not. I guess it has a little to do with geography and, where you live, but also how interested one is, in nature and the human body. For me that interest just happens to be extremely high and intense. I believe in living with nature and the earth and hope one day to be living with out electricity, rise and fall with the sun(which I have been able to do here quite frequently).  : ).  So in that interest when I moved to Maui I made a decision to only eat food grown on Hawaiian Land. Now I have taken that even further and decided only to eat food that is grown on Maui. I believe when we eat the foods that grow around the area we live, our bodies are more in tune to the natural things that are happening around the area. Also my mother gave me a really good motive and that was, that she heard the natives who eat the native food don’t get messed with by the bugs or the animals, because they have those local and native cells in there blood, and when you eat ONLY that stuff, its incredible.

I have not had one bug bite or itch since I have been here, and I have been laying in the grass that is 2 ft tall, with bugs climbing all over me…BUT NO BITES! How amazing is that?!?!

So yesterday I moved to a place that is basically in the rainforest. Trees and streams and fruit to die for! It is incredible. 30 year old avocado trees that have more avo’s than you could eat in a life time, not to mention papayas, bananas, starfruit, oranges, tangerines, mangos, liloki(passion fruit), coconuts, and more. Not to mention a space where I can garden green veggies year around, like spinach, kale, collards, cucumbers, celery, peppers, tomatoes, etc.

I cannot stress how important it is to me to be close to your food source. I mean obviously it is important I moved half way around the world, to be in the environment of the food that I eat the most. That’s all. I thought about the foods that I liked the best, and I researched where they grew, and luckily most of the all grow in the same place, the TROPICS. Then I moved.

I don’t know what all this is supposed to mean, or do, or whatever, I am just writing things that happen. I am not trying to be formal or have a “thing”. I am just sharing my experiences and thoughts. I hope that my writing benefits you in some way.

Anyway, so yesterday I learned how to harvest Bananas. They actually grow on these huge “tree-look-a-like” stalks. They look like trees but they are really just ahuge stalk that comes out of the ground. The really important part of a Banana plant is actually not even a foot out of the ground. It is the hub of all the banana stalks. And when you harvest a “tree” of bananas, you actually cut down the whole tree or stalk and get your crop from that one stalk, cause one is all that grows on a stalk and then it is done. Then you chop up the stalk, about 8-13ft tall, after its one the ground and you spread the choppings around the bottom of the banana “hub” and that puts all the nutrients back into the ground so the hub can grow another stalk, 8-13 ft tall for one more bunch of bananas.

Pretty amazing. So now when you eat a banana think about where it came from.

Peace love joy

Joshua Gray Hamilton

Peace!

Take it slow. Make each step count. Peace and Love. - Joshua Gray

Article from Paul Chek about inner listening. (Click Here)

I have heard Paul speak about the importance of meat in the diet. I have also heard him speak about paying attention to what your body is telling you and the adjustments that are happening everyday. I am very inspired by Paul and I appreciate his honesty and his way of life. I have stressed before in my articles the importance of listening to your own body and what is right for you. No one can ever tell you what is right for you, you have to listen and feel your own way. When I came across this article it just made me remember how ever changing we are and how important it is for us to listen to what our bodies are telling us. Whether it is to fast, or to eat meat, or drink water, or to jump up and down. If you feel urged to do something, chances are you may want to look into it…peace and love. 

-Joshua

COCONUT ALMOND YOGURT YAY! I LOVE THIS STUFF!

Farm update. Everything is growing so fast, the land is looking awesome, and the greens taste amazing. Dig the world. Be Original!

peace and love

Joshua Gray

2/26/11

So today I started thinking about goals and motivation. I am the kind of person that never really recognizes improvement. I guess I do every now and then, but for most of my life I have been focused on what isn’t done yet, rather than how much has been accomplished. This can be good and bad. Good because you always have something to work for. It can be bad because if you never recognize how far you have come, or what are presently achieving then it is really hard to stay focused. At least for me it is. In addition when you have more than one goal, you have to prioritize and you may not get to a secondary goal as quickly, and so its easy to become hard on yourself for “falling short” of the secondary goal and missing the fact that you are kicking ass at the first one.

Its hard for me sometimes just cause there are so many things that I want to accomplish, so I am usually very hard on myself, I guess I am a BIT impatient. : ) It always seems like my goal(s) are a million miles away. Today I just really started to understand that everything I am doing right now is working. All of my practices are helping me, and I am always moving forward.

I have to say this new perspective, is extremely pleasant to me. I am able to recognize that the things I am practicing now are not only leading to my present and foreground goal, but my current practices are also helping with those BIG background goals, even if it is just a little bit at a time.

There are so many things I want to do in my life. I have so many ideas, that I want to make tangible, and a lot of times (more than not) I look at myself and I say “WHY ARE YOU NOT WORKING ON THAT GOAL?” What the heck dude? What’s your deal? (Sometimes I deserve a kick in the pa-tooty, but most the time I am working on something)

So I’ll start to wonder what is holding me back, and what I have to change to get better and if I put piece (A) over by piece (B) and then take (C) and put it on top of (D), “Oh! That’s it! That is how I do it!”  And sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t. You see, because of being unable to recognize progress, I would stack up all these things I needed to do, cause I just wasn’t getting far enough fast enough. Then I would just get overwhelmed and not do it anymore, with out realizing the little bit I was doing in the beginning was the perfect amount. All the time I am reminded of my role models and how hard they worked and the amount of effort they put into their life, and game and music, and sometimes it makes me think that I am not working hard enough.

We have to understand it is all about perspective. Sometimes we see other people that we want to be like, and then we look at ourselves and wonder, how on earth am I ever going to be like that with the effort that I am putting in now? A lot of times it doesn’t seem possible. At least that is what happens to me. I will see an inspiring article, or bio on someone that I look up to, and it makes me just want to climb all over myself, up and down and over and under, in and out to try to make my situation and circumstance work better, so that I can be “like Mike” faster. That is the issue right there, because most of the time trying to get there faster back fires.

Every time I read one of those articles or see one of those people, I am trying to relate to them in their present state. I am trying to relate to them AFTER years and years of practice and effort AT A STEADY PACE. Now what I am beginning to see is that I should start to relate to them as they were in the past. When they were in my shoes, and practicing everyday, and constantly moving forward.

Yes it is motivating to see someone who is truly the best at their game, it makes me just want to work that much harder cause I KNOW if they can do it, I can too, but now I am truly understanding the value of not getting thrown off of my cycle or my schedule because of how great they are compared to me. The thing is as long as I am climbing, as long as I am going up the stairs, I am right where I am supposed to be. It never fails though, I always re-evaluate myself every time I see someone who I think has qualities that I want to have, and I never give credit to myself for how far I have already come, and the things I have accomplished and AM ACCOMPLISHING.

I don’t want to ever be idle. I think that has been one of my biggest fears. Being idle can be dangerous, because when you’re idle it is easy to become depressed cause you cant find anything to work for, but being to hard on yourself, or trying to get “there” too fast can be just as dangerous, cause you never get to celebrate how far you have come, and you are always beating yourself up and STRESSING yourself out. Stress is no fun. More than anything now I really feel like in more ways than one I am learning balance. I love how balance presents it self in this situation, because I know I have too many goals to ever be idle, and I have finally learned about the stress from being to hard on myself. Now I realize I am always working at a steady pace to become the best me I can be, at the perfect time, NOW.

If you are like me, and you have a million goals, and they are all a million miles away, take a minute, step back, breathe and look at what you are doing RIGHT NOW. In this moment, what are you doing? And Why? Chances are what ever you are doing right now is happening because of a goal you set in the past or a goal that you have in reachable distance. So give yourself a pat on the back. Give your self a round of applause. Heck! Go get some other people to clap for you! Cause you are awesome. You deserve it. You are in the perfect place, and if you are frustrated cause you think that you aren’t working hard enough, STOP. BE STILL, and understand that all the effort you are putting in right now is the perfect amount, and you are perfect just the way you are.

And if you are idle, and you don’t think you have anything to work for, take a look at what you have done in the past, big or small, and recognize that you can do ANYTHING you want, all you have to do is think about what you LOVE the most out of anything in the whole world. WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST? And anything you do, anyway you move, anywhere you go, as long as you aren’t idle, is taking you towards what you love the most. So think about it, get up, and go get it, a little bit at a time. BREAK DOWN YOUR DREAMS INTO ACHIEVABLE DAILY GOALS.

Peace and love.

DIG THE WORLD! BE ORIGINAL.

 -Joshua Gray

Representing love for free with my friend Baska! Loving it. Also a little glimpse of the beach and the lucky ol’ sun. Dig the world, Be original. Peace and Love

Hey guys. I finally got my page up for the love for free project that my friend Baska started in Slovakia. Go check it out. It inspired me to go give some love. So I am going to the beach and I am going to give out some FREE love. PEACE.

LOVE FOR FREE ALABAMA

Joshua Gray

Another Lemon Ginger Blast with spinach! Also I am soaking and sprouting garbanzo beans as well as almonds. I will be making sprouted RAW hummus, and coconut almond yogurt. Much love. Dig the World be original!