Sold our house.. to voyage a dream. I’m Joshua Thomas Gray, nice to meet you.
LET'S DO THIS!!
Hey steemit community! I’m pumped to start blogging it's been a long time coming. My dad @bitstudio told me about the amazing steemit community and my wife @la-vida already started so make sure to check them out!
WHO THE HECK IS JOSHUA THOMAS GRAY?
How have I never heard of you!?
At The Dead Sea with mud on my face hahah... keep that skin looking fresh yo!
You have never heard of me because I'm a nobody... for now. :D
Currently 28, 10 amazing years married to my wife Christin, and we have two amazing boys (5 & 3 help us!)
I’m a filmmaker/photographer and I want to start sharing my voice/art with a community of people to inspire and give hope. I enjoy sharing my story with young people to help them discover who they are and how they can follow their passions with purpose.
Over the last 10 years as I voyaged my career starting from nothing at 18 years old.. It's actually kind of a crazy story it involves high school pregnancy, running away to Reno to get married, having a miscarriage, becoming a photographer and dropping out of high school. The story ends great.. spoiler! Still married with kids now and own my own business. (another blog for the full crazy story)
As a filmmaker/photographer I have had amazing opportunities traveling the world and meeting some amazing people however all the images have basically sat dormant on hard drives... many.. many had drivers. Thus steemit will you come along the adventure of life with me!?
2015 - 2017
A lot has happened in 2 years.. let me catch you up.
2015 - I started questioning why I do what I do. I was working full time for a software company doing video and it was great for the first 4 years... however the 5th was a long year of not enjoying my job anymore and realizing it’s not what I really wanted for my life. I ended up writing this mission for myself: Telling stories to inspire and give people hope.
I put my notice in at work.
2016 - Got offered a job at a church to heading up the video team (never thought I would work at a church) It was a great job with the goal of: Telling stories to inspire people and point them to Jesus. (that's the mission statement they wrote for this job.. so basically I couldn’t say no)
later in the year we sold our home, threw away, sold, gave away, and packed the rest of our stuff in a 10X10 storage unit. We hit the road in our 1984 Westfalia from Seattle to San Francisco and back for about a month. We got home and bought an airstream and have lived in that since.
Dec. 2016 - I put my notice in at that amazing and safe job to voyage my own path and pursue changing the world.
2017 - I started my own company called Anthro with the goal to change the world through human story. It has been awesome and I can’t wait to see how the future unfolds!
This is a little video about our company.. more about Anthro in another blog post.
2018 HERE WE COME!
Are you ready for this?
Big things are happening in 2018!
Number 1 is a film I have been working on for 2 years. I want to share the process of making this film with you! I am going to share rough edits and private links of the footage we are working on!! YES JUST FOR YOU STEEMIT!
So what the heck why not start with this rough draft of a teaser for the film! DO NOT POST THIS ANYWHERE! (thanks and enjoy)
Again I'm sharing unfinished work with you guys to allow you to be a part of the process! I have not publicly shared this video anywhere! Please DO NOT take the link and post it anywhere, I want this to be on my channel and only for this community.
Let me know what you want to know and see!
Here are some stills from the film (Shot on a red for the camera nerds out there :D )
This is the house that we stayed at. Pretty basic but for the area it's really nice. The family was very welcoming and accommodating. An unforgettable experience for sure.
We stayed at an orphanage in Haiti for a couple nights as well.. here I am filming there:
IN CONCLUSION
Let's Change The World!!!
dang.. if you are still reading this... give me a follow and up vote haha! Just kidding but really thank you.. it means a lot to me to find people who are interested in following what I'm up to.
I hope to find a community of people who share similar values. I hope my art/work/life put out into the world can help others.
I believe people matter. I believe telling stories can change harts, minds, and inspire people into action. Thus I am going to start sharing more of my story and others stories here.
BONUS
Cus why not!
Filming on the Big Island of Hawaii
This was the day that we sold our house and got rid of everything and vagabonded :D
Now we live in an 1989 airstream that we renovated (another day another blog )
Filming in Israel inside a 2,000 year old tomb. We had to slide down two levels deep into the earth. Only to find out 2 tarantulas lived down there!!! Also still some human bones in this bad boy :0
Yosemite... must I say more?
I love Wakeboarding
Me filming a sick video I'll share with you in the next month (yes we flipped a car on its side.. yes i still drive it.)
Las Vegas
NYC
Arizona (I'm going to do a whole blog about this.. its insane)
PNW adventures in the Westfalia
Okay.. for real.. if you are still here.. HIGH FIVE you win! This was probably way to much for my #introduceyourself BUT i don't care! hahah
Leave me a comment! Let me know what you think or if you have any questions!
Follow me if you so fancy!
Tell me a little about yourself! I wanna get to know you wonderful people!
Peace!
-- Joshua Thomas Gray
Hey welcome to SteemIt ... look forward to following your journeys around the world, from on traveler to the next!
Thanks!!
What a beautiful story! Chase your dreams brotha, don't let anybody tell you you can't achieve something. Push when you feel like you can't push anymore and go out there and exceed your goals!
Heck yeah!! Making it happen :D thanks!
It looks like you are gonna have an amazing film there. Your photo's are absolutely beautiful. Keep dreaming and dream big. Welcome to Steemit
Thanks we have been working hard on it! I can't wait to get it done and get it out there!
Your welcome. I can just imagine has been an ongoing project for couple of years for you. The on and off to many others.
Dear Joshua,
You did a great job introducing yourself.
I must say, i am amazed!
Photos are surreal and the story of your last couple years is mind blowing.
Best regards and best of luck
alex
Joshua, Excellent Photo's you posted, Welcome to the Steemit Community
thanks!
Well hay there Joshua!! I must say that this is one of the best introduction posts I have seen since being on Steemit. Your filmography is wonderful, crisp, clear and professional. I love what you stand for and the message you are trying to bring to the world. I look forward to seeing more of your work and hearing about the sick film you are working on :D
You have a beautiful family! Your story of leaving your career and house behind to travel and see the world reminds me of a lot @markwhittam’s story whom I’ve been following since he first arrived here.
Let’s see a little about me...I also have little ones, 4 to be exact ages 1, 4, 6 and 7 and one on the way. You say help you...help me!! 😂 I’m a stay at home that homeschools and loves it. We love the freedom to teach our kids as we please and have the flexibility doing so. I’m an amateur photographer learning the ropes and just did my first two jobs as a photographer. You can check out some of my work here and here. I support @familyprotection and helping spread the truths about CPS and Child Services and how they are destroying children and their families. @markwhittam and @canadian-coconut run the page, you should check it out when you have time. I also share my birthing experiences and mommy stories to empower mothers to be strong and know that they have choices.
Well I think that’s a wrap lol. I love to meet new people as well and I am so glad I checked out your introduction. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around :) Upped and Steemed your post so more people can meet you. God Bless~
Hey @crosheille! Thanks so much for the kind words! 1,4,6, and 7!!! You are a champ!! My wife also just started a steemit blog @la-vida. We are currently talking about what to do about school for our 4 year old.. we currently have him enrolled in an awesome private school for preschool but next year is the real deal for kindergarten and we are starting to really look into homeschooling but have lots of questions.
Funny you mentioned @markwhittam I just discovered his blog the other day and thought... dang they are doing it!! haha
thanks for the introduction nice to met you!
You’re absolutely welcome!! Haaa thanks! Although at times I don’t feel like a champ, I’m just trying to survive the madness lol!!! I just visited, followed, Upped and Steemed @la-vida! I look forward to hearing back from her!! 😃 Well I’m here to help in anyway that I can and would love to answer questions or give tips about homeschooling. It’s totally doable and so amazing watching your kids grow and blossom right before your eyes. No one knows our kids better than we do, no one knows their strengths and weaknesses like we do so we are well capable of teaching them on our own.
Oh yes Mark and his family are really doing their thang!! They are so inspiring! I’m so glad you already discovered him! Looking forward to following your family!! Take care!!!
Thanks for all the help!
My pleasure :)
Amazing post, with an amazing story. Look forward to your future posts. Wish you all the success in business. It's not easy, but the rewards are so much more than money alone can offer.
Thanks! Yes its a voyage for sure but I'm loving it!
Wish you enjoy the process
And eventually enjoy the result!
Wow this post was amazing! Loved all the cool photographs. I'm sure your content will be amazing so I just gave you a follow :)
Thanks Emily! looking forward to post a lot more :D
Yeah!!! Nice :D
oh yeah :D
If your intro is any indication of future content, let me just say welcome!
Excellent pictures. Looking forward to seeing more in the future.
Thanks! I'm working on figure out what my post are all going to look like. I will probably do lots of smaller post but I also want to work on larger post like this for sure!
I really want to start making videos to show what I'm up to/ the film I'm working on.. so keep an eye out for that! Steemit looks like the platform I will use to show sneak peaks of my work!
Haha! Here is a follow & your upvote! I made it to the end & enjoyed! Yes, let's change the world for the better. All the best & welcome to Steemit...and Merry Christmas!
*High Five
Thanks for the follow and upvote! Merry Christmas and soon happy new year! Thanks for checking my stuff out hope you enjoy the future post as well!
A wonderful new year to you as well!