My First #GardenJournal Update from the GaiaYoga Gardens Food Forest - GaiaYoga Gardens, Lower Puna, Far East Big Island, Hawai'i - Sunday, November 6, 2022

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Warm greetings all! πŸ™ πŸ’š

This is my first #gardenjournal post, and my first garden update since my breakup with KaΓ―, and moving out of the Sanctuary of The Blue Dragon, in Seaview, and moving back to GaiaYoga Gardens (after being away for five months and ten days), where I had lived for three and a half years previously. I've been back for almost a month now, and I've been overwhelmingly grateful since my first day. I've been feeling better and better every day, as I work the land, with my beloved plants, and as I get my new nursery space set up and organized.

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GaiaYoga Gardens is a 16-acre, off-grid, clothing-optional, food-forest intentional community, deep in the jungle of Lower Puna, in far East Big Island, Hawai'i. The operative part of the for this post is that it is a 16-acre food forest. Because it is not a typical garden (even though there are gardens here), and the gardening and plants are spread throughout the property, I haven't really known where to start in terms of taking photos, describing it, and creating a #gardenjournal post out of it all, but today I gave it a go!

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With the gentle nudging from @riverflows, I committed myself to walking the property today to take photos, and then making a post out of it. To help narrow my focus down a bit (absolutely essential in a 16-acre food forest!), I decided to showcase the various fruit trees that are producing fruit now, as well as a handful of other edible and medicinal plants. There are so many plants not shown here...

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Since I didn't know where to start, and because I've been putting so much time, attention, and work into getting it set up and organized, I decided to begin at my new nursery space. It's located behind Ano's nursery, which is still notably larger (though with how quichly I collect and propagate plants, maybe not for long!), along the edge of the more wild section of the property. The corrugated metal roofing along the edge is for Ano's new music studio. I took photos from each each of the four corners, and then down the long side. I'll describe the plants in depth in other posts. This is just an introduction.
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The one actual functional garden at the moment at GaiaYoga is the fenced-in garden next to Kana's 100-year-old Balinese teak house. When I got back of the garden was buried in weeds (there weren't enough people to take care of it), with several important plants that I had planted lost. I did a good weeding with Fiona (one of the women who's staying at GaiaYoga for a few months), and we were able to salvage the Krishna tulsi - Oncimum tenuiflorum and vana tulsi - Oncimum gratissimum that I had planted, and the fast-soreading white-fruited strawberry (presently unknown ID).
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One of my Krishna tulsi and Vana tulsi. These two looked better than the others, since they weren't as covered in weeds, but they were being shaded too much on one side by some Melochia - Melochia umbellata trees (which I trimmed back).
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This is a very happy pohā berry - Physalis peruviana that I planted before I left. It was a small, gauky plant when I left, but now it looks amazing! The fruit are delicious and super nutritious, even medicinal. Ano has been propagating it, so now there are several plants.
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The ripe pohā berry fruit.
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More sad, leggy Krishna tulsi that were salvaged from the weeds. With proper light, they'll bush up nicely, and will be looking good again soon.
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This is a patch of all-purple sugarcane, planted in front of another sugarcane variety with purple culms but green leaves, that I just planted.
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More all-purple sugarcane next to the last Hawaiian hot pepper plant on the property. I planted both before I left. I collected and planted seeds of the Hawaiian hot pepper, because it's a fantastic locally adapted variety that I use constantly in my superfood fire coffee.
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Much of GaiaYoga is planted in an open orchard style, with many different trees and herbaceous plants growing everywhere.
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This is jabuticaba/Brazilian grapetree - Plinia cauliflora. There are several of these plantes throughout the property. They fruit four or five times a year, and not all at the same time. I love their sweet-tart fruit!
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This is one variety a chempedek - Artocarpus integer, a relative of jackfruit and breadfruit. There are several of these planted across the property.
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Ano is a coconut onnoisseur, and many different varieties of them all over the property. Ano's also been free climbing coconut palms for more than twenty years. This is one of the dwarf varieties that begins producing nuts when it is still very short.
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This is a Jamaica cherry/strawberry tree - Muntingia calabura, a fast-growing tree that produces very healthful delicious fruit. There are hundreds of studies on this tree medicinal qualities. It's been challenging to propagate here, but I've successfully done so three times so far. Ano and I just planted one of the those younger trees the I propagated.
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Some shots along one of the central trails, with avocado trees, macadamia nut trees, edible hibiscus/bele - Abelmoschus manihot, breadfruit, jackfruit, and banana plants visible. The aluminum foil seen on the branches of the macadamia nut trees are to air layer them.
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There are lots of white mulberry - Morus alba planted all over the property. These fruit ripen to a purple-black color, and are super yummy, never lasting long on the tree!
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There are many abiu trees - Pouteria caimito planted throughout GaiaYoga too. The fruit is quite unique in flavor, with latex in the skin.
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This is another of my Vana tulsi that I unburied from the weeds. It's looking very leggy, but with good sun it will busy up nicely again soon.
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We have many sorts of citrus. These are tangerines.
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This lemon is very small and funny-looking (we joke and say it's like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree), but it produces wondeful crops of lemons consistently.
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We have bananas literally everywhere, in 30 some varieties.
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Another plant that is found all over the propery is ketuk/Asian sweet leaf - Sauropus androgynus. This plant is so well adapted here that is seeds itself prolifically. All parts of the plant are edible, but the leaves are most used.
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We have several mamey sapote - Pouteria sapota trees planted in various places around the property. It's large orange-fleshed fruit have a taste somewhere between pumpkin and sweet potato.
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These are a whole bin of mamey sapote that Ano I harvested yesterday.
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Another view down one of the jungly trails, with mamey sapote and bananas visible.
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This is a starfruit/carambola - Averrhoa carambola that produces very heavy crops of fruit for months out of the year.
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*Another main trail, with bananas and a mango tree visible.
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We have a handful of durian - Durio zibethinus trees planted, with some already producing fruit. Some people love them, others hate them. It's not uncommon for people to buy and sell large durian fruit for $30-40 each.
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Did I mention that we have so many bananas?
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This is one of several coconut sprouting beds, where older 'shaker' nuts are placed to sprout for food. Coconut sprouts are a fantastic food source that most people have never tried. The sweet Styrofoam-like flesh is as curious as it is delicious. We've been clearing this bed of dead nuts to put another round of shakers down to sprout.
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This is the fenced-in citrus and papaya orchard, with many varieties of both.
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A view toward the car ports, shop, and the upper coco bar. There are over forty different species and varieties of tropical clumping timber bamboos planted across the property, many of which are utilized in construction.
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One of many jackfruit - Artocarpus heterophyllus trees growing on the property. Jackfruit is very well adapted here, and seeds itself very frequently.
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This is peanut butter fruit - Bunchosia grandulifera. There aren't many on the property, but the trees that are here seem to produce their curious and tasty sticky red fruit pretty constantly.
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There are a few cacao - Theobroma cacao trees here and there too.
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These are Bolivian mangosteen - Garcinia humilis. There are a few of these planted, mostly near the chicken pen. I adore the sweet-tart flavor of the fruit!
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And last but not least, me hiding in an young anatto - Bixa orellana shrub, that I planted more than a year ago.
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OK my dear garden and plant loving friends, that's all for this #gardenjournal update! This was only a tiny little sliver of what is here. There is so much that I didn't mention or show, of course, which will make appearances in future posts. I hope y'all enjoyed and found this tour of GaiaYoga Gardens interesting! Until next time! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’šβš‘πŸ’₯πŸ”₯βœ΄οΈβœ³οΈβ‡οΈπŸ‘£πŸŒ±

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All photos were taken with my Motorola G Power Android Phone.

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Thank you all so much who have helped me get to where I am today, and allowing me to share more of the beauty and magic from my life and my world with you, and for your continuous appreciation and support! I am truly deeply grateful! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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If you'd like to find me on other alternative platforms where I have accounts (I spend most of my time here on Hive), click on this signature image below to go to my LinkTree page.

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If you'd like to send me a BTC Lighting Tip (made possible by the fantastic work of brianoflondon on @v4vapp), just scan the QR image below. πŸ‘‡

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Signature image created by @doze, and the dividers made by @thepeakstudio, with all tweaked to their present form by me.

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Wow that grapetree - does the fruit grow on the trunks? Just I saw something that did that looked like that recently. And the pohā berry - is that a kind of gooseberry? So many amazing plants. You must be very happy back there, like you've never left! Maybe everything happens for a reason - I'm sure it does. I must thank you to for reminding me about tulasi, which I haven't planted this year yet. Wierd year for gardneing here.

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Wow that grapetree - does the fruit grow on the trunks? Just I saw something that did that looked like that recently. And the pohā berry - is that a kind of gooseberry? So many amazing plants. You must be very happy back there, like you've never left! Maybe everything happens for a reason - I'm sure it does. I must thank you to for reminding me about tulasi, which I haven't planted this year yet. Wierd year for gardneing here.

Yep, the flowers and fruit appear all over the trunks and branches! The species name, cauliflora, means 'trunk flowers'. I've seen photos of them where the fruit covered the trunks so thoroughly that the trunk itself wasn't even visible! Yep, pohā berry is a Physalis, and their other common vernacular name is cape gooseberry! They are easy, nutritious, and wonderful!

I am seriously over-the-top grateful to be back here, and yes, it does feel like I never left! It took me moving out, and experiencing everything I did over the five months and ten days that I was away, to fully appreciate what I had here. My experience of myself, my life, and GaiaYoga, has changed radically in a very good direction, and as soon as I got back, and it's still going strong! Thank you again so much @riverflows! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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16 Acres of lands comprissing different varieties of plants is mind blowing. You have a lot of things to share with us in your subsequent post on #Gardenjournal. Your efforts in stocking his farm is much appreciated πŸ‘. Thanks for sharing with us. My pleasure!

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Wow, @tydynrain - what an epic property.... One needs vision and wisdom to keep all that in harmony! I love getting a glimpse of your exotic plants, several of which I've never seen before. What a gloriously lush and vital landscape - and I'd love to be working more communally myself... my gardens are well out of control in parts, without help (and bigger tools!) Looking forward to winter clearing again. πŸ˜ŠπŸ™πŸŒŸ Many blessings on your work!

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Wow, @tydynrain - what an epic property.... One needs vision and wisdom to keep all that in harmony! I love getting a glimpse of your exotic plants, several of which I've never seen before. What a gloriously lush and vital landscape - and I'd love to be working more communally myself... my gardens are well out of control in parts, without help (and bigger tools!) Looking forward to winter clearing again. πŸ˜ŠπŸ™πŸŒŸ Many blessings on your work!

Thank you @clareartista! It is an amazing property, one that I've come to love as I've worked and planted it for the past four years. It's an intentional community, so much was planted before I arrived, though I have planted and tended many plants on this property in my time here.

Hawai'i is sort of like a nexus location for organisms from everywhwere in the world. I'm still learning all the plants that I encounter here. I'm excited to be developing my new nursery space, as I'll be able to collect and propagate many more plants, to plant here, as well as to sell and trade. Planting and garden spaces can get out of hand here fast, as everything grows so bloody quickly.

I'd love to see your garden if you ever felt inclined to share! Thank you again, for your kind words, appreciation, and wellwishes! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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Beautiful, @tydynrain πŸŒŸπŸ™πŸ˜ŠπŸ’– I'll look forward to your updates about this magnificent microcosmos! And yey: I share regularly on Hive about my garden space; you can scroll down my profile to find posts, or via the #hivegarden community. 🌿🌈πŸ₯°

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Beautiful, @tydynrain πŸŒŸπŸ™πŸ˜ŠπŸ’– I'll look forward to your updates about this magnificent microcosmos! And yey: I share regularly on Hive about my garden space; you can scroll down my profile to find posts, or via the #hivegarden community. 🌿🌈πŸ₯°

Yay, I love sharing about my garden and plant adventures! I hope to do reasonably regular garden updates and plant spotlights. Marvelous, thank you! I'll go poke around to see what I can find! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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Ooook, this is an incredible place!
I see you are going from one dreamy place to another :) And honestly I am glad you are feeling better and better, looks like a powerful healing place to be.

So many unknown species there for me! I got thrilled by the grapetree, what a unique tree! I had the same question as @riverflows "on the truck and the branches???", it makes it even more impressive! I want to see one and taste the fruits. As well as coconut sprouts, yes, I am one of those many :))

Amazing post @tydynrain, loved every single detail!

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Ooook, this is an incredible place!
I see you are going from one dreamy place to another :) And honestly I am glad you are feeling better and better, looks like a powerful healing place to be.

It truly is, and I'm do grateful to be back here! I have known and worked with the plants and gardens in a few lovely places, yes! Thank you so much! Being barefooted and naked on earth, very close to Nature, I healed a great deal at GaiaYoga in my first round here, and now I'm into round two!

So many unknown species there for me! I got thrilled by the grapetree, what a unique tree! I had the same question as @riverflows "on the truck and the branches???", it makes it even more impressive! I want to see one and taste the fruits. As well as coconut sprouts, yes, I am one of those many :))

I love your excitement! I always feel the same way when I see plants I don't yet know! Yes, that species has flowers and fruit all over the trunks and branches. The species name, cauliflora, means 'trunk flowers'. The fruit are very enjoyable! I love them! Also, coconut sprouts are often such a surprise to people who are used to the usual coconut meat, as they are so different and unusual!

Amazing post @tydynrain, loved every single detail!

Thank you for this, truly! I love sharing and it makes my heart sing when there is such excitement and appreciation! Plant are so amazing! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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Super glad you are into round two! Healing is a never-ending process, so it is great when we are able to move on and work on deeper levels. And this is really hard work :)

Thank you for sharing the beauty of this place!

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Super glad you are into round two! Healing is a never-ending process, so it is great when we are able to move on and work on deeper levels. And this is really hard work :)

Thank you! Oh, yes, indeed, it sure is! At more naive points in my life I thought that I had healed various things entirely, only to have those things come up again years later. I realized that healing and growth happen in upward spirals; we always come back to a place, but from new perspective as we go up the spiral. And yes, the hard work part...yes, it often is, but it's so worth it, of course.

Thank you for sharing the beauty of this place!

It truly is my deep honor, pleasure, and privilege to share, both from my life and experience, and the amazing beauty in which I swim here! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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gorgeous! congratulations! and, thanks for sharing πŸ™

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Thank you so much, brother! I truly love sharing my love and passion for plants! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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Wow, a 16-acre food forest in Hawaii sounds as close to paradise as I can imagine. And with an openminded community living and flourishing there, it might even be better than paradise :)

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Wow, a 16-acre food forest in Hawaii sounds as close to paradise as I can imagine. And with an openminded community living and flourishing there, it might even be better than paradise :)

It is truly amazing, and I am very grateful to be living here once again, after being away for five months (and ten days). While it is not perfect of ideal in some ways, and it definitely has challenges, I very much love it here, and I could not imagine, not would I want, to live another way. This is as close as I've ever come to living the way I want, on my own terms. πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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I took a look at the site of GaiaYoga Gardens and it looks very promising. Although I am a bit sceptical about communities like this one (they tend to have too many rules for my idiosyncrasy), I would love to spend some time there, to see how things work. Unfortunately the distance is too much for my budget so I'll just have to be content by reading your posts about it :)

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I took a look at the site of GaiaYoga Gardens and it looks very promising. Although I am a bit sceptical about communities like this one (they tend to have too many rules for my idiosyncrasy), I would love to spend some time there, to see how things work. Unfortunately the distance is too much for my budget so I'll just have to be content by reading your posts about it :)

That is very often the case with intentional communities, and it was rather like that here as as well for a good while, but GaiaYoga has gone through what I'd call a death and rebirth cycle, where most left. I'm similar to you in that regard about rules and my peculiarities, but it feels good to me here now. All 'rules' are up for discussion.

Ano, the main founder, used to be somewhat hard-line in some respects, but with everything he's experienced over the past few years, he's mellowed out a lot. I have four years of history here, and I can say that I like it here now a lot more. Maybe at some point in the future things will align to make coming here feel more doable. In any case, I'll keep sharing about my experiences and life here in my posts, allowing you (and others) a view they wouldn't normally have. πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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Brother where do you live? I do hope I can meet you up one day and hang out in the woods

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Brother where do you live? I do hope I can meet you up one day and hang out in the woods

I'm back to living out in the jungle at GaiaYoga Gardens, the 16-acre, off-grid, clothing-optional, food-forest intentional community in Lower Puna, far East Big Island, Hawai'i. I lived here for three and a half years, then moved away for five months and ten days, and then returned on October 11th. It would be wonderful for you to visit here brother! I think you'd love it! It's whole different world! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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That sounds amazing brother will check this out thank you 😊

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Omg I saw the page that looks amazing brother didn't know such thing exist

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Hehe...yep, it exists. It is not perfect and it has challenges, but it is truly an amazing place, and one that I deeply love. I am so grateful to live here. πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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It's a dream place for me

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Well, keep it on your radar and in your awareness. Maybe it would be possible indeed for you to come visit to see what you think and how it feels. It would very likely radically change your perspective on what you want and what's important to you. It helps bring you back to your humanity, and very closely. πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’š

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It's always been my dream brother I always knew that is the end game for me. I'll try to achieve it ASAP

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That's really beautiful brother! It's wonderful that you have that clarity, as it makes focusing your time, attention, and energy so much easier! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’šβœ¨

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True brother everything needs money that's the first step then we see what I can do to reach the woods hehe

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True brother everything needs money that's the first step then we see what I can do to reach the woods hehe

Live now in the gratitude and joy of your dream realized while you work toward it where you are. I know it can happen! Write about it, talk about it, post about it. Amazing things can happen when you put your greatest desires out there! I believe in you brother! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’šβœ¨

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Sigh damn i saw the page I just know that's my home I'll try my best brother saving up now.

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It activated you. That's a fantastic thing! It roused your desires and focused your energy. Magic can happen with such catalysts. I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds! πŸ˜πŸ™πŸ’šβœ¨

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