In Nature You Are Never Alone

Living in Costa Rica has given me the chance to have some of the world's most beautiful nature at my fingertips even though I live in the city. In the past three weeks, I have been back and forth to the beach on both the Pacific and Caribbean sides.

The drive is gorgeous both ways, breathtaking scenery the entire way until you hit the sand. The nature in this country is nothing short of amazing. It is a reminder of how remarkable the universe is.

Living far from home can be challenging at times. San José can be a particularly tough place to live at times too, especially during the rainy season. There's a lot of traveling on a muggy, smelly, wet, overcrowded bus to get to a client who cancels at the last minute anyway. All of this can incite loneliness.

I try to find the daily blessings and discover humor in little things throughout the day in order to stay positive. However, a trip out into nature helps lift the spirit as well.

This is the only saving grace of living in San José: the access there is to so many of the natural wonders of Central America. I have been lucky to get to see many of those. Coast to coast this past weekend was truly amazing, tiring but amazing.

It's nice to pause and take it all in as the moments are whizzing by me here.

Being quiet in nature reminds you that you are not alone.

I happened upon this quote today on Dictionary.com, http://quotes.dictionary.com/ ; it speaks for itself,

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles." ~Anne Frank

Anne Frank (1929–1945), German-Jewish refugee, diarist. The Diary of a Young Girl, entry for Feb. 23, 1944 (1947, trans. 1952).

Be Who You Are

Today is National Coming Out Day. Haven't heard of it? I hadn't either until I logged on to my Facebook account earlier today. It's a little sad how much I learn about the world these days through Facebook. Nevertheless, I learned it and thank you Facebook for helping.

I've never been much of an activist. I wasn't swayed by the glamour even in college when it was really cutting edge and artsy to go to rallies and marches and be "political." Instead, you probably could have found me on my couch drawing up the final preparations for a killer keg party I was hosting that night (they were legendary).

What can I say? I'm an apathetic American who's always had, and therefore never had to fight to have basic rights.

For this, though, I will fight.

I will fight because I could not imagine my life without my friends and family. The support and love they give to me make my days go. I could not imagine my loved ones to be anything but who they are, whether that be gay, straight, funny, boring, or any other "defining" characteristic.

I will fight for Billy Lucas, 15 years old, Asher Brown, 13, and Seth Walsh, 13 because they were somebody's loved one. From what I've read, they gave love and support to friends and family around them. Being gay wasn't who they were, but being made fun of for being gay is what killed them.

Nobody should be ridiculed for who they are or what they are. Nobody should be made to feel so badly about themselves that their only option out is suicide.

Just as, on the contrary, it would be great to live in a world where people weren't so afraid of what's different from them. Nobody should be so scared of another person that they feel like the only option is to bully them until they kill themself.

Why are we instilling such fear in our children?

A world without bullies would be a nice place to live. Unfortunately, we have to settle for the world in which we live.

Bullies and fear will always exist. It is part of human nature. However, it is also our responsibility as humans to control our fear. We need to learn for ourselves and to teach our children that fear is okay and natural, but that it cannot control life.

Bullies are the people who let fear rule their existence.

The other reality is that junior high and high school are hard places to be as a kid figuring out where you belong in the world. Each and every kid in that period of life is trying to find their place in the world.

Everyone is trying so hard to be "normal" that they don't even realize that different is normal.

It's not an easy concept to figure out. However, if you do and you make it through that time of your life, you will find the place where you belong. You will see how there's room in the world for everyone, sadly though, the bigots and the bullies too.

To tell the truth, I'm a little sorry I didn't catch on quicker. I'll admit I was intimidated by the Human Rights Campaign and words like "fight" and "ally." They seemed too heavy. As I said earlier, I'm apathetic to issues, plus, I've never had a problem with LGBT. I didn't think I needed to get involved. As who I am though I realized, I am involved.

It is okay to be who you are.

Being who you are is worth fighting for.

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For more information:

Human Rights Campaign

http://www.hrc.org/

Here Comes the Sun

Today is the start of day 5 sans rain in San José.

In fact, it's the fourth day in a row that I'm waking up to sunshine out my window.

I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation. I've been able to do so much and feel so good and smile all day long this week.

Don't get me wrong, I like rain. I also realize I live in a country filled with rainforest. I knew it was going to rain. I even knew it was going to rain a lot. Last week though, it rained for 5 days straight. It maybe didn't rain for a total of 37 minutes.

I always heard about people in gray climates getting depressed and having higher rates of suicide. I get it now. I realize how hard it is to keep your spirits up when you're not only not seeing the sun, you're not even seeing a cloud. You're just wet. All the time.

The rain was so oppressive that you didn't want to do anything, including write a blog post. I have so many topics I want to write about and I've written so many posts in my head that just never made it to the computer. They will. I promise. Just not today. Right now I need to shut off the computer and get out in the sunshine while it lasts!

R and R in Bocas

San Jose is at the height of the rainiest rainy season they've seen in years. Usually, I feel well-equipped and ready to deal with it; forcing myself to see the sunny side of the street, if you will.

Last week though, I hit a breaking point and decided I needed, for the sake of my own mental sanity, to get out of town.

So, I headed to Bocas del Toro, Panama. In Bocas, I found exactly the weekend I needed. There's something about island culture that forces you to slow down and take a deep breath.

The weather was just so-so. It rained a bit but, nevertheless, it was a weekend that exceeded expectations. It was a weekend that could be used as the definition for Rest and Recreation.

It was difficult to get on the boat to come home today. However, I'm back with a renewed energy to pour into surviving the wets. They're a second-cousin to the blues.

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