I have to admit that sometimes life in Costa Rica gets under my gringo skin. We gringos don’t live very contemplative lives for the most part. We don’t have time to, or at least we don’t take the time to. There is simply too much to do, too much money to make, too much pressure to bear and too little time to stop and smell the roses. The go until your gone attitude is what built the country into the economic power it was (well, still is, but for how long, hmmm?). I think one of the greatest culture shocks for a gringo trying to actually adapt to Costa Rica life (many never try) is that here things are, well, different. Here the saying goes that “hay mas tiempo que vida” (or, you have more time than life). Here things get done not “on time,” but when they, well, get done. It can be, to put it mildly, madly frustrating for the gringo with the go go attitude. The tico’s response to that frustration would be, well then, grin-go home.
But gradually I have begun to adapt. To walk (and drive) slower, be friendlier, notice things, take my time, learn how to be patient and enjoy the present moment rather than always worrying about the future. Believe me, old gringo habits are hard to break, but I am coming around more and more these days. Getting the heck out of San Jose and moving to Perez Zeledon, a place where the tico “pura-vida” culture is as alive and well as anywhere, has helped.
We are currently fixing up an apartment that we rented adjacent to our house to be used for Lily’s salon (or, “peluquería”, as they are generally called here). We hired my good friend David Picado to paint a mural on a wall where Lily intends to put a small garden. David is the quintessential tico. I have watched him work and he is never in a hurry to do anything. Slow and deliberate is his manner. When will it get done, well, when it’s done. And the end result is very nice.
The point of this post then is maybe the tico way has merit for all of us. If you think of art in general, the artist performs his work slowly and deliberately, with great focus on the present moment. It would be impossible to perform a great work of art, a masterpiece, by rushing to the end. We all want the potential accolades those “ends” might bring, but one reason they may not come routinely is because we focus too much on them. The tico way is to focus on the present moment and not be so concerned about finishing. It is the way of the artist. In that sense, their way is a more artful way to live life. I am beginning to see that more and more. The importance of focusing on the art of living.
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