Introductory post

Hi all, how are you beutiful people?
I first heard of Steemit in 2016, while visiting Karuna farm where I met @eco-alex. I must admit I was a bit dumbfoundd about the whole thing, and though I thought it sounded exciting and very interesting, I wouldn't think about it again until last week.
So, here I am now. My first post introducing myself..
Where to begin?
I'm 32 years old, and this past year has been the most exciting and intense year of my life..
I got married, had my first son, bought land in Portugal and we are in the midst of making all the preparations to move there in October...!
I guess a little back story would be apropriate..
I grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home. I didn't meet anyone who wasn't religious until I was 13.
By the time I was 15 i seriously started doubting just about everything my parents and society had taught me. I lost my faith in God, lost my faith in humanity, and I put all my belief into science. I was an avid Athiest and reductionist.
At the age of 18 I joined the army, as is mandatory in my country of origin. I gave 3 years of my life to them, and all it did was convince me, this could not be the only way.. there had to be something more..
After I left, I was drawn to the philosophies and mysticism of the East. Mainly china, but India as well. I became and aspiring Daoist (in my mind). I enjoy to this day hearing Alan watts talk of the silliness of life, it was a theme that really resonated with me.
If I'm being completely honest, I was helped tremendously on my path by the use of psychedelics. Though I haven't taken any for over 3 years (for reasons best left for another post) I still believe I wouldn't be the happy, content person I am today, if it weren't for the lessons I learned from those powerful teacher plants (and Acid).

I had some dark times, one of the worst being when my fiance cheated on me, and then broke up with me. I was alone, heartbroken, and homeless since we were living in her apartment.
But from that very dark place, I managed to build myself up. Ultimately, it taught me what I needed to learn to be ready for meeting my wife and the mother of my child. Funny how life has a way of working itself out, if only we know how to listen..
That trip to Karuna really changed the course of my life. It was there that we wrote our book together. It was there that we formulated our plan for our future. It was there that we saw the solution to all our problems. It may sound pompous, but as someone who has seen the ugly side of depression (both from within and from without), and as I believe depression is deeply connected to our purpose in life, or lack thereof, I feel confident in saying that our time in India showed us a light that has not gone out since (though in the bright lights of the city, it sometimes gets hard to see it..).

So, we are making a leap of faith. We are taking our material posesions, and moving to a new country, where we plan to live a dream life. A life in harmony, surrounded by nature, where all people can come to learn, heal, and convert negativity to positivity, Yin to Yang, depression to exhilaration.

I look forward to telling you more about our future plans and projects, and we are currently working on a long running vlog documenting the whole process, taking virgin land, and creating a sustaining, nurturing, harmonious space.

After reading @ecoTrain's post about creating an off-grid community based on the Gift Economy, my mind was blown. I know nothing of cryptocurrency (well, very VERY little), but besides that, it is our exact vision. I am simply so happy to find an online community dedicated to healing Mother nature, or more precisely, healing our relationship with Mother nature.
Well, I have no idea how to end this... I have so much more I want to share, but I fear I might be slipping away from my introduction into some very deep seas..
So for now I will say I look forward to uploading our vlogs to Dtube (which I only just learned about.. I've been telling all my friends since!)
If any of this sounds mildly interesting to you I would LOVE to connect, and if your'e in Portugal (or Spain, we're 30 mins from the boarder) then I would love to meet, and maybe even collaborate someday.

For now, I bid you adieu, peace and love to all you amazing people.
M. Orlev
Karuna......

And here we are at our wedding...