No Heels In The Jungle.
Packing is one of my least favorite things to do. It’s time-consuming and requires so much brainpower.
I am currently in the process of packing, and sometimes I just sit around and stare at the complete chaos that is my current apartment. There are boxes and piles of things everywhere as I try to sort out what I think I need.
I decided to travel to Costa Rica for an extended amount of time. In doing that, I also decided that I would part with the majority of my stuff. Because that is what I realize it is: it’s just stuff. I plan on going to this country with one suitcase. Just one.
Everything else needs to be given away, sold, or packed up, and I probably have enough shoes to fill a DSW. No one needs this much shit. No one. So, it’s got to go.
I imagined that it would be easy to downsize, but it hasn’t been. I find myself feeling very stuck as fear creeps into my head. What the fuck am I doing? This keeps popping in over and over. I have anxiety about it. I have some plans but no real, solid plans.
I have never done anything like this before, and I am fucking terrified.
Some people may say that I am crazy for doing this. I say, I am crazy if I don’t do this for myself. I have no real attachments right now. I have no husband. I have no boyfriend. I have no children (well, except for my cat, Stella).
I have no corporate job after leaving my steady 9 to 5 job months ago. I teach a few Yoga classes at amazing local studios and gyms and I wait tables. If there was ever a time for me to travel, it would be now.
I always dreamed of living near the beach, and I have always wanted to travel.
So I am doing it. Diving headfirst into the unknown. I have been here before many times. It’s become a friend to me. A familiar place.
The place that forces me to trust in the Universe and to have faith that everything will work out as it should, because it does — and it will. The unknown teaches me to just let go.
I visited Costa Rica this past January for a Yoga retreat, and it completely changed my life. While I was there, I felt my chakras align and the kundalini rise within.
When our group arrived to the small, hippie surf-town and I walked barefoot on the beach, I just knew. I have to be here. I felt it in my entire Being and in my soul. People were surprised that I even came home the first time.
I made a vow to myself that I would go back there. I felt the divine pull. I set the intention to go back, and since then everything has fallen into place. And now I am doing the damn thing!
When I was in Costa Rica, the thing I loved most about it was the simple living style. I have thought to myself many times before how much I crave simplicity. The vibes and energy there were unlike anywhere else I have ever been.
I didn’t wear makeup when I was there. I didn’t need to wear high heels. I was me. I was pure, unapologetically, authentic me. And it was healing. It was incredible. It was amazing.
Costa Rica is a healing vortex.
My desire is to work with healers and shamans while I am there, but I have no expectations (although it would be super sweet to meet Kaypacha, one of my favorite astrologers who lives in Costa Rica; help a sister out, Universe!)
I am going during the rainy season, and therefore will be living at the mercy of Mother Nature. I have no idea what will happen. But, I am on board for the adventure and the experience of a lifetime.
The popular saying in Costa Rica is pura vida. It translates to pure life. I realize this is what I have sought my whole life. I look back on my life and see so much synchronicity that has pointed me in the direction of this country.
From middle school throughout college, I studied Spanish. I admit, I definitely need to work on it (necesito practicar), but, while we were there in January, I acted as the group translator. I have always dreamed about places that actually exist in Costa Rica.
A few years ago, I posted a picture of paradise as a virtual vision board for myself. I took a picture in Costa Rica that looks almost identical to this picture of paradise. My chosen path of healing and Yoga led me to go on a Yoga retreat there.
Going on that Yoga retreat altered the course of my life. I think about how I almost didn’t go on that retreat because of so many fears. The fears that fed bullshit into my head about why I wouldn’t be able to do it.
But, I took the plunge, and now here I am — facing a whole different set of fears.
I welcome the fear. I send love to it. I know that it is there to keep me moving and shaking on this spiritual journey called life. I will let go of the stuff that I have accumulated over the years. No one wears heels in the damn jungle anyway.
I send these material things gratitude, and then send them on their way to make someone else happy that needs them. I don’t need all of this stuff anymore. I embrace the simple way of living. I am sure more fears will be faced when I am there.
I am pretty terrified of heights and I hear the cliff jumping in Costa Rica is pretty amazing. So, bring on the cliffs.
*****