Pura Vida!

Pura Vida! Pure life, full of life, this is living, real living. Costa Rica breathes out this cultural phrase every single moment. I've only been here a few days and I have already seen Costa Ricans (and even some travelers and tourists) carry this with them, presenting it to all. It's such a simple idea and concept and one I was excited about experiencing.

It's used as a phrase, greeting, or just something to say when the time is right. It's kind of like saying "Go Dawgs" but does not have to be summoned by a big win. Here, everyone is a victor of some kind. A warmth circulates throughout this wonderful country and there is nothing you can do to prevent it from reaching you.

Student Union porch

I will be studying Creative Writing and Photodocumentary in this wonderful country for about the next month or so and only hope that pura vida becomes a part of my body to a degree which I cannot ever remove it. Purity goes further than life in Costa Rica. Pure action, word, deed, thought, practice, love, and living are all encouraged and carried out all in these words. 

Sure, we can look at this as a cliche way of saying that we need to strip ourselves of impurities and focus on nature and what is important. I'm not condemning that in any way. Honestly, I don't think we should be solely one material, idea, or substance.  I don't like being put in a box. But once we find something to be passionate about or something to have faith in whether it's conservation, Jesus, friendships, or anything else under the sun -- that is what needs to become pure. Stick to your guns. Be confident with who you are. Don't get FOMO. Even be inconsistent if that means you are staying pure to yourself and what you believe in. 

Perhaps pura vida is not quite a simple phrase then. To me, it does not mean to hone in one specific thing and let that create or shape your purity, it means to live well and to love well without relinquishing fragments of who you are. Live a life of selflessness and ambition, pride and humility, mixture and purity. 

PURA VIDA!

More to come later!

Feeling Weak?

As the chaplain for Chi O, each week I give a short devotion either in chapter or over the listserv. It's a great way to spread God's love for us. I thought it would be cool to start writing them on here, in hopes that people could read them? We'll see how that goes! Here it is:

As spring break is approaching and seems to be close we can almost touch the warm sand, it's left me in a bit of a rut. Obviously we all have midterms, papers, projects, and who knows what else. I've been trying to read this stupid James Joyce book "Ulysses" that makes ZERO sense and feels like this dude woke up in the middle of the night and recorded what he dreamed about. That's left me feeling pretty discouraged. (Speaking of, if any of y'all have read this book, plz hmu.) So yeah school is laborious and utterly unrewarding (at least at this point).

Then you have alllllll the other stuff that goes on. For me, the future came pounding on my door, totally unannounced, just to see what plans (if any) I had swimming around in my head. Then of course I felt overwhelmed because I still don't know what I'm doing this summer or if I should go to graduate school or if I should start with 15 or 30 SPF next week on the beach. (Let's be real, I should probably be wearing like 100.)

I'll be honest, I put a lot of pressure on myself as well. To have stellar grades, to be a solid friend, good role model, aspiring teacher, the list definitely goes on. I strive for perfection which we all know is unattainable, yet I still can't figure out why I attempt to get there. I rely on myself too much. I think I can do it because I'm strong and independent.

Here's the truth: I can't. I can't do it on my own. Not at all. So what do I do when I feel this weak, this defeated, this beaten down? Well today, I curled up in my bed paralyzed by period cramps with Wheat Thins, watched too much Scandal, then turned on Ellen, and proceeded to fall asleep in the first three minutes of Dr. Phil. Honestly, none of that really helped.

It's okay for me to be weak. It's okay for any of us to be weak and feel down. It's inevitable. Here's the thing, our weakness is how God's strength is shown because through him and our reliance on him, His power is made perfect. Others can see that even though we are weak, we are strong because of God and His love for us and His compassion for us. He takes care of us...if we let him. Once we allow him to intervene, we are set free and we are anything but defeated. It takes that moment to extinguish our own pride and independence, and once that moment has happened, his love swoops in and saves us from that weak, dark, defeated place.

I know this was a long rant, so I hope it made sense and you got a little something out of it. Here's the passage I thought of:

"I was given a thorn in my flesh, to torment. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:7-10

I encourage you all to read that a few times this week (or whenever) as you might be feeling a little down or a little weak. Take a second to breathe and let go of bad thoughts and vibes inside of you. Make room for God to step in and ask for help. Ask for his help, your friend's help, your family's. It's amazing how you will feel after taking that leap of faith. We are made strong through our weaknesses.