Day 141 – The Jigsaw Comes Together

Posted on March 25, 2012 by alchurchill

Awaking before sunrise, to join a field of outdoor dancers moving to the sound of Kamananda, was to be how my Sunday began.
Watching the sunrise whilst dancing to Random Rab, was how it slowly developed.
At 9am, the filmmakers workshop began, one of the few workshops I had originally intended to attend.
As I learned that it was a group involvement and was to begin with an introduction of oneself, I instantly became nervous, but realized that as I mentioned before, to put yourself in a position that makes you uncomfortable whilst it is related to something you love, will yield instantaneous results.

So now I was excited.
I have often had ideas of filming someone or asking someone a question on film and making mini documentaries, but fear always strikes me down. Too concerned on how it may turn out. Well this was to be the answer. The facilitators from selva rica were firm believers in just going for it. So we did.

The group split out into two, one half was to film a narrative and the other half, the one I chose to be in, was to ask questions documentary style.

We went out there and I got involved asking people questions and realized how simple and easy it was. People want to talk to you!

This lesson has taught me to just go and do it. Don’t be too concerned about the results, just do it. It builds confidence and skills.

One half of the video can be found below. The documentary part will be following sometime soon.

Thirst - the narrative video – filmed in 30 minutes, with no preparation – Enjoy!

Day 139 (positive project) Connect To Your True Depth

Posted on March 12, 2012 by alchurchill

After a good nights sleep in our rented tent, we awoke to find breakfast. All the food stalls were supplying organically grown produce, mainly vegetarian and some raw.
The food was delicious and highlighted the importance of good food. Reducing the consumption of meat is not just a craze or a fashion, it is a healthy and more sustainable way to live.
Following breakfast I attended a chakra opening workshop, which used forms of yoga to activate the seven main chakras. Again, with an open heart and mind I fully submerged myself in the workshop. One part of the workshop involved finding a partner with which to work the heart chakra. The facilitator explained that this particular activity is one to open the heart and improve relationships.
I found a male partner, we placed our hands on each others’ hearts and looked directly into each others eyes whilst taking deep relaxing, trusting breaths.
It was unbelievable the connection that this created. Taking a complete stranger and sharing this intimate experience really does open the heart and emphasizes compassion. You are able to see yourself and truly feel the depth of a human connection, embracing my fears of judgement and allowing this moment to absorb into my field of consciousness.

Without having said a word to one another, this previous stranger and I; now had a profound connection . The simple art of allowing this to occur without judgement seemed to enable each of us to open to the experience and feel each others space and develop confidence.
The workshop progressed to a group activity involving five separate smaller groups chanting a different tone or beat. Each group chanted their particular routine and then slowly intermingled, continuing to chant as we all walked among each other. This developed into a highly energized coming together of power and connectedness. The energy I felt during this exercise was intense and very difficult to explain.
The entire experience was very special and highlighted the importance of human connection, the presence of a higher energy and the depth of human experience.

We are much more than a physical body and a set of circumstances, you simply need to learn to connect to that depth.

Day 138 (positive project) Trip to Envision

Posted on March 8, 2012 by alchurchill

The idea of going to Envision fell at our feet, in the form of an email from a friends’ friend. We decided to book a shuttle from Mal País to Uvita, in order to complete the journey in one day, rather than taking two days on the public transport. This was definitely the right idea, a relaxed journey on an air conditioned bus to Montezuma, followed by a speed boat ride with about fifteen other people across to Jaco, then another bus direct to the festival in Uvita.

On face value, the festival to me, didn’t look too much like ‘my thing’. It was what I would call a ‘hippie festival’. It combined workshops throughout the day with music throughout the night. I had researched the music before going and didn’t really find anything I liked that much. There was maybe one or two workshops that looked cool, but I really wasn’t too fussed about them.

On the surface, I was not bothered about going, but something deeper down was intriguing me about it, there was a part of me that felt it necessary to attend. In recent weeks I have noticed that when I do something I am uncomfortable with, positive changes occur. So, I remained open and secretly excited.
On arrival, I was thrown in at the deep end, intense heat, many ‘hippies’ and a dusty cart ride into the festival (see picture). This was the unknown, my ‘hippie’ initiation. I set off into the festival with the intention of releasing judgment and opening my heart. After all, I was already part hippie, I haven’t washed my hair in a month, I haven’t eaten meat in a few months and the clothes I was wearing had been on my back for the last few days. I was ready. (humorous disclaimer: my use of the word hippie here, is simply in order to conjure up a stereo type and is not loaded with any malice or negative intention)

After meeting a bunch of nice people, pitching my tent in the field and finding a $20 bill on the grass, I felt that I had been welcomed into my surroundings. We walked around to find all structures were sustainably built from bamboo, including numerous organic food stores. It was obvious from the beginning that this was not simply a music festival, but a gathering of conscious intentions. What seemed at the beginning to be a long day ahead, was infant an excellent journey to a place I now knew I had to be.

Staying open to the unknown has allowed me to embrace this first day and as you will find out; much more.

Day 137 (positive project) Wow, What Happened?

Posted on March 6, 2012 by alchurchill

Wow, it’s now March 6 and I haven’t posted an update since February 29. Since we last spoke, I have been on an incredible journey. I have had fears calmed, faith restored, heart opened, passions reinforced and path lit.
I will run through the amazing journey by trying to break it down and spread it across days 138, 139, 140, 141, 142 and 143. But first let me deal with day 137, my last day in Mal País.

We have made amazing friends at Pachamama, in Franz, Amanda and Amancio. Also in other people that were staying at Pachamama, Kim, Dan, Katie, Kurt, Sharon, Tom and Colin. And also an amazing contact made in Carolyn who runs her own social media company and has given me some valuable information in starting up my own social media business. It has been such an amazing experience.

We spent our last day in the natural tidal pool ending with a yoga session on the beach at sunset.

Pachamama, which means ‘Mother Earth’, truly lived up to its name by providing everything we needed. It was now time to give back to the Earth as we prepared to leave for Envision Festival.

Day 134 (positive project) Water Management

Posted on February 27, 2012 by alchurchill

It’s hot in Costa Rica. Today, the temperature says thirty three degrees centigrade. It feels so much hotter. I decide to have a shower to cool off.
I haven’t had a hot shower since arriving here on February 3rd. Only a couple of the places we have stayed have had hot water, all the others are simply a pipe coming out of the wall with cold water. This is perfect and in this temperature it is all one needs.
It is way more refreshing to have a cold shower and due to the scarcity of water, it is a sure fire way to reduce the length of time in the shower.
Because of this, I started thinking about the water people waste and have now begun turning the water off whilst I apply the soap. You don’t think it’s all that much, but if half of the time your applying soap and the other half your washing it off, then you can cut your water usage down by half.
Also, if we all were to try and reduce the heat of our showers too, we would save energy and potentially even more water as we wouldn’t ‘hang out’ in the shower for as long.

So moving forward maybe we can all reduce the strain on our valuable water resources and take colder shorter showers! I know I am definitely changing my habits from now on.

Day 130 (positive project) Pace Yourself

Posted on February 23, 2012 by alchurchill

Hello folks, I know these posts aren’t coming at a consistent pace, or every day as they ‘should’, but I am sure no one really minds! The point is, they are still coming and I don’t plan on stopping them. I have released any stresses that may be involved in posting ‘on time’ because really, it just doesn’t matter.
Costa Rica has certainly shown me a thing or two, especially the lifestyle that I am living here. I have avoided the most developed areas of the country and have managed to live a fairly simple existence here. As those of you reading know, I have been staying in a tent and using an outdoor kitchen and outdoor cold showers, very minimal and basic but in my eyes, perfect.
This way of life simplifies everything. The only problem I have found is that it can make you a little lazy and some aspects of life become more of a chore. As soon as I started feeling this, I managed to corral my thoughts and just slowed everything down. The way I was able to make it work for me was to imagine that whatever task I had to do, was simply the only task I had to do. I was also able to really sink into the task and merge with it, as if I was the task, not something I have to do, but a necessary extension of myself.
By carrying out actions in this way you make friends with the moment and it becomes peaceful. Instead of laying out a bunch of tasks infront of me, I simply chose to be the task. I guess in a way it is like a meditation. Nothing else exists except you inside of the task, and dropping the fact that it is a ‘task’ and turning it into an ‘action’ also removes the feeling of it being a chore.

Right I’m outta here, maybe there is another action for me at the end of this action, who knows…..?

Day 129 (positive project) Making an Effort

Posted on February 21, 2012 by alchurchill

I feel exhausted!
¿Por Qué.
Because of my attempts at speaking and listening to Spanish.

I feel that it is only polite to at least make an effort to speak the language of the locals when you are in a foreign speaking country. I have multiple ‘apps’ which aid me with this and also the aid of google translate (when I have Internet). But today, I am feeling the burn!
We are living in a tent and use an outside kitchen, shared with an amazing 66 year old character known as Amancio, (or Emancio, not figured that out yet). He has lived in the teepee here for eight years. And speaks no English. Thankfully my other half speaks some Spanish, so some translations often occur. Armed with my iPhone however I am able to explain to him how stupid I am and to tell him how tiring it is for me to hablas en español.
Despite my efforts to communicate my uselessness, he continues to talk to me as if I were the head professor at a world renowned Spanish University! I am unable to type, or even spell the words he sprouts, fast enough, into my multitude of apps and so am reduced to sincere nods.
Sometimes it is hard to see my positive efforts, even with my recent signing up to studyspanish.com, but I must not let my incompetence pull me into despair. I must recognize that Rome wasn’t built in a day and I at least am trying.
My fingers are crossed, not so much for the sake of learning Spanish, but in the hope of my head not exploding.
Check out Amancio…..

Day 128 (positive project) Costa Rica Happiness

Posted on February 20, 2012 by alchurchill

Here in Costa Rica, they don’t have a military. (I was going to stop writing there, as that’s really all the info you need, however…..) The United States has a military that costs $1.4 trillion a year. Costa Rica is one of the happiest nations on the planet. Speaking to a local, he says he is free, liberated, because of there being no army.
If every country needed no army we would surely be in heaven.

Here is a great Ted talk on the happy planet index by Nic Marks

Some interesting reading
NPR air conditioning spending
The below picture was taken from Wikipedia

Day 127 (positive project) Minimal Luxury

Posted on February 20, 2012 by alchurchill

Over the last few days I have been living in what I might term ‘minimal luxury’. I have been taught an extremely valuable lesson, by building on my already existing beliefs of less being more.
I have stayed in a tent on the beach, a treehouse in the woods and now I have a tent pitched on a mattress on a concrete lookout high above an outdoor kitchen.
These living arrangements are the most basic of basic, but have everything one needs. There are cold water showers in bare brick outbuildings, outdoor sinks and bins hanging from the bamboo built kitchen frame. The kitchen floor is a mixture of dry dirt and stones, with an occasional tree root thrown in to test your agility. A gas canister powers a four ring burner and a bungee chord holds the fridge door closed. I have just made use of my coffee bag and sit here in amazement at how perfect all of this is.
This lesson came to me whilst taking a shower the other day; the western world sees wealth and excess as luxury, the higher quality something is, or the more expensive and pristine, or the more bells and whistles something has, then the better it is. However, I am now seeing this as simply excess. I imagine some parts of the western world see the living conditions I explain above as an ‘unfortunate’ way to live, or even a situation that needs to be fixed, “those poor people need money for a better life!” Well, I say no! Money and luxurious items, do not make a person happy, or even make the person. The stripping down of all, has hilighted the unnecessary excess of an exploited western society.

Many have grown accustomed to a certain ‘class’ of living and anything less than that will just seem neanderthal, but richness can be found in the bare bones of the true necessities of life.

Day 125 (positive project) Amazing Trust

Posted on February 18, 2012 by alchurchill

Yesterday we drove a quad to Nosara. Which in itself is a positive because what male wouldn’t enjoy driving a Quad bike over rough ground and through rivers? It’s just plain fun. But that aside, my point of focus of today’s (feb 17) post is trust.
Whilst looking through a store in Nosara, we became familiar with the store keeper and discovered that he made his own jewelry. He was very friendly and helpful. I decided to buy an item from him. He explained at the start that he would take a credit card but on time of payment the telephone line was down and he couldn’t take the money.
So we asked if he could save it and we would come to try again later. Now that part that surprised me and has made me stand back in awe was the fact that he refused to do this, telling us to keep the item and come back to pay tomorrow!
I tried to say no and to give it him back, but he wasn’t having it. He insisted we take it and return to pay another time.

This has taught me a huge deal about trust and I wish this trust was experienced everywhere around the world.

Take To Change

What will it take to change your ways?

Category Archives: Costa Rica