I am past the halfway point of my time here in Monteverde. I am on the second last page of my sketchbook before I begin the new one I brought down with me. I think that so far I am achieving my goals for this visit, which are neither many nor very lofty. Specifically I am here to do art, tons of art, eight hours a day, whether in my room, or in the dining room here or in a local coffee shop. I tried painting outdoors with limited success due to the constant strong winds here.
I am also here for a siritual retreat. As many of you know I take an annual trip for one month in Latin America, always in March, primarily to improve my level of Spanish. But there is another, more fundamental reason for these annual excursions. I have timed them to follow the day of my birthday, February 29, when it does occur, being Leap Year. This is my way of annually adjusting my life clock, so to speak. It gives me a much needed break away from work, my neighbourhood, and the Vancouver winter blahs, and it allows me a lot of time for prayer, solitude, reflection and reviewing my life. When I´m away I am always meeting people, seeing and experience things that inspire me to make positive and constructive changes in my life for the next year: the way I communicte with and interact with others, my attitudes, the way I eat and exercise, the way I work, the way I treat my friends and others, for example.
Everywhere I go, I always seem to encounter something that is being done right there, that isn´t necessarily happening at home, and often I am inspired to think of ways of adapting this new way of being for when I return to Canada. Here in Monteverde, for example, I am very impressed by the level of trust and goodwill that people appear to have towards one another and towards strangers here. I have mentioned already how mellow and gentle the neighbourhood dogs are, even though they are allowed free rage in the community. Even a pitbull with puppies. I was also struck by the attitude of kindness that was shown to me when I got lost on Sunday while hiking up the mountain back to Monteverde. When I entered this small farming collective literally cut off from everything else on the mountainside, I was totally impressed by these things:
1. No guard dogs threatened or attacked me.
2. No one came out with a shotgun or other sign of threat to get me off their property.
3. I was treated kindly and offered a glass of water when I did inquire in one of the houses.
4. Two children were confident and competent to show me the way out.
5. Their dog was friendly and affectionate.
This is nothing like Vancouver where everyone seems to be afraid of everyone else. I think I have already mentioned to some of you that in my home city, every day, I make a point of saying hi to at least two strangers, and on occasion this has precipitated in an enjoyable conversation or two, and who only knows? Some new friendships could develop from this. So, my time here in Monteverde is only encouraging me to keep doing this when I come home, to bring back with me, as it were, some of the positive essence of this place, both human, and nature (though we humans are, of course, part of nature!) and see how I can apply it to my own living environment.
I did say that we all leave a footprint. We are always influencing and impacting those around us and sometimes it can take only a smile or a kind word to help someone else avert disaster. It´s not necessarily going to be easy, but hey! Nothing that´s worth having ever comes cheap.
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