Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Costa Rica Day 1
Today we travelled to CR...left late Saturday night to arrive in San Jose the next day. I was extremely nervous about our vacay as we were off to an adventurous start in a foreign country. Not something I have done in a while and especially without an adult present! Our arrival was scary as we interacted with new people and saw the city in some devastation...it was a very rough introduction to the country. I couldn´t wait to get out into the countryside. We headed straight to the first hostel we were staying at. Hostel Pangea aka the party hostel. lol. We enjoyed the paintings on the wall, the pool although we left it untouched, and the bar with the outdoor deck. We also met some British guys at our hostel who were hilarious. We made fun of each other´s culture and accent for most of the night, came up with funny slang names for things, and of course had our first alcohol in the country. Yum! We made fun of them for having one small bed in a huge room whereas we had a bunk bed with two beds. ¡Muy comodo! The shower was shared but we ended up using the coed shower downstairs by the pool. Quite nice, with tall countertops where the sinks were. We did a lot of research and realized that we wanted to head out of the city as soon as possible. We had planned with the boys, Tim (who´s from Croydon) and Jim (very high maintenance, couldn´t stop complaining about girly stuff) to go to Volcan Arenal or La Fortuna by renting a car but they decided to take a flight so we chose to go along with that idea. The flight was definitely a good plan as it would have taken about 9 hours to get up to La Fortuna with the recent rain and bad roads in the area. We slept very well although we heard music all night. We were so tired from travelling all night and day!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Why the small things?
Skipping instead of walking. Stopping to smell the flowers. Running fast down a giant grassy hill. Sliding with socks on a hardwood floor. Tasting the rain. Jumping in puddles. Buying shoes. Racing with the office rolling chairs. I could go on!
Sure, they're pointless. But so is a plastic knife. Utterly void of a useful point once it breaks on a rubbery piece of chicken at the cafeteria. What may give its point is its part in becoming a mini Stonehenge in a grassy null. I suppose someone decided that it might be a good idea to have a disposable instrument to mince up food but I tend to find its more satisfying purpose lies in becoming a plastic shrine at the local park.
There are two ways to look at small things. One is an activity that someone finds entertaining despite lack of purpose or intention. By many, these activities are often viewed by society as the result of mind-warping entertainment and technology. The other is small things that lead to big things. We're talking time space continuum phenomena here.
For example, I found a cellphone lying on the sidewalk near a coffee shop I like to visit from time to time. Noting that a good deed might be overdue, I turned it into the coffee shop so as not to let it get drowned in a Washington downpour. Now, if the owner is like me, his whole world is in that phone. Maybe it was dropped on purpose (it was a pretty ancient phone). But maybe the phone is a key piece of evidence for a high-profile unsolved mystery lurking above heads of the Seattle Po'. Or maybe if I hadn't have returned the phone, I would have run into my childhood friend visiting the Pacific Northwest who I haven't seen in 15 years with whom I could have reconnected, toured Europe with, and married her obnoxiously good-looking and wealthy brother, heading in the opposite direction JUST at the same time I headed into the shop to turn in the phone. Just my luck, right?
OK, not likely. But quite possible? Oh yes. Surely those small decisions we make everyday have something to do with "the plan". How could it not? The world's getting smaller and smaller with each iPhone sold.
Everyone wants to feel significant. At work, in home life, and in society. As a young professional, I grapple with this thought on a daily basis. The motivating and epic words from the theme of Pacific Lutheran University's conferences, classes, and outreach echo..."What will you do with your one wild and precious life? (Mary Oliver)" That question almost frustrates me to no end. Where do I go from here? How do I find what I'm supposed to do with a life wild and precious? Is there a book for this? I for one would name it, "A Wild and Precious Life for Dummies."
NEWSFLASH! There is no book telling you how to live your life. Terrific. I'll have to talk to God about that one. I mean, He created the earth, the heavens, the creatures, light, dark, and all that other good stuff. Couldn't he have brought us into this world with a bloody owner's manual...for crying out loud?! (Pun intended).
Somewhere in the dark recesses of my muddle of a brain I know that we're not supposed to have an owner's manual. We're supposed to write it as we go along, with the help of the Holy Spirit of course. So that's why I write it down: to appreciate life and live it fully. It is a testimony to my journey...to wherever it may lead.
May there be many more posts to come!
Sure, they're pointless. But so is a plastic knife. Utterly void of a useful point once it breaks on a rubbery piece of chicken at the cafeteria. What may give its point is its part in becoming a mini Stonehenge in a grassy null. I suppose someone decided that it might be a good idea to have a disposable instrument to mince up food but I tend to find its more satisfying purpose lies in becoming a plastic shrine at the local park.
There are two ways to look at small things. One is an activity that someone finds entertaining despite lack of purpose or intention. By many, these activities are often viewed by society as the result of mind-warping entertainment and technology. The other is small things that lead to big things. We're talking time space continuum phenomena here.
For example, I found a cellphone lying on the sidewalk near a coffee shop I like to visit from time to time. Noting that a good deed might be overdue, I turned it into the coffee shop so as not to let it get drowned in a Washington downpour. Now, if the owner is like me, his whole world is in that phone. Maybe it was dropped on purpose (it was a pretty ancient phone). But maybe the phone is a key piece of evidence for a high-profile unsolved mystery lurking above heads of the Seattle Po'. Or maybe if I hadn't have returned the phone, I would have run into my childhood friend visiting the Pacific Northwest who I haven't seen in 15 years with whom I could have reconnected, toured Europe with, and married her obnoxiously good-looking and wealthy brother, heading in the opposite direction JUST at the same time I headed into the shop to turn in the phone. Just my luck, right?
OK, not likely. But quite possible? Oh yes. Surely those small decisions we make everyday have something to do with "the plan". How could it not? The world's getting smaller and smaller with each iPhone sold.
Everyone wants to feel significant. At work, in home life, and in society. As a young professional, I grapple with this thought on a daily basis. The motivating and epic words from the theme of Pacific Lutheran University's conferences, classes, and outreach echo..."What will you do with your one wild and precious life? (Mary Oliver)" That question almost frustrates me to no end. Where do I go from here? How do I find what I'm supposed to do with a life wild and precious? Is there a book for this? I for one would name it, "A Wild and Precious Life for Dummies."
NEWSFLASH! There is no book telling you how to live your life. Terrific. I'll have to talk to God about that one. I mean, He created the earth, the heavens, the creatures, light, dark, and all that other good stuff. Couldn't he have brought us into this world with a bloody owner's manual...for crying out loud?! (Pun intended).
Somewhere in the dark recesses of my muddle of a brain I know that we're not supposed to have an owner's manual. We're supposed to write it as we go along, with the help of the Holy Spirit of course. So that's why I write it down: to appreciate life and live it fully. It is a testimony to my journey...to wherever it may lead.
May there be many more posts to come!
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