Costa Rica is pulling me in. For many years I was seeking a place to live where I could feel at home. It wasn’t so much a matter of climate but of finding a place where I am both fully nourished and fully received. Eight years ago, Stella and I moved to Asheville, North Carolina, hoping that it would be such a place. It could have been, but being fully received is more than finding people you resonate with. Lands and waters have their own spirits. Sometimes you arrive somewhere and every road is blocked, nothing comes easily, you meet the right people at the wrong time, or the wrong people at the right time, end up in the wrong house, and there’s a hole in the bottom of your ice cream cone. But sometimes you arrive somewhere and every door opens for you. That’s how it has been for us in our month-long visit to La Ecovilla (LEV) in Costa Rica.
I have been living in Costa Rica for years. I believed the media campaign about Costa Rica’s “exemplary environmental record.” Perhaps at one time that was true, but now it is a horrible greenwashing campaign. If you live here and are able to get a peek behind the scenes, you will see that the development is out of control, the population is sickened with the heaviest pesticide use per capita in the world, the water is polluted and horribly mismanaged, the red tide has been devastating, the wild places are being destroyed while goverment officials are bought off as a “cost of doing business.” If you have an app that translates, stick this report entitled “Hasta la Última Gota” in your translator and let people know! This may help to keep the best parts of Costa Rica from becoming a disaster zone like Tulum. https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:c31ef79b-8fdb-3062-a5bc-c6f50ab71b03
Hi Charles and Stella. Not sure if you’ll see this comment or if I’m too late to the party. I rarely comment and this one feels important. I want you to know that I really resonate with your description of things falling into place and the idea of flying by the seat of your pants being relatively the same as following your intuition. I moved to Maine, more or less on a whim, from an increasingly suburban area of Georgia almost 2 1/2 years ago and had the exact same experience you’ve described about going to Costa Rica. I like to joke that I moved here because I took a wrong turn on my way home from a trip to North Carolina, but that’s pretty much the truth. I left home for a 5 day trip to Asheville and ended up visiting Maine for a month, and had already began letting the decision to move permeate into me about 2 weeks in. Everything just lined up. The land feels so right. There is so much life here. The connections I made were so alive. With people and with other beings. And there were unexpected turns. In fact, most of the plans I made for my first year here completely fell apart. And more beautiful things came to fruition in their wake. I do not regret any of it, even when it had been painful and scary and unclear, I knew in my heart I am supposed to be here. Words cannot describe, I simply have a knowing. Thank you for sharing your most recent aliveness with us. I suspect that things will continue not to be exactly as we think they will turn out, for your family and mine. And that’s okay. I hope you can hold on to the important and beautiful aspects of this leg of your journey. Blessings and peace upon you and your community. Whatever form that takes.
Hallo and thankyou for wanting to communicate...mmmm...my comment on your move to costa rica was perhaps unkind - at this time of great turmoil to be able to move to an idyllic haven is so very appealing ...since then i have reflected was my reaction driven by envy?! However thisTime demands that we acknowledge how white skinned folk have always had more freedom more purchase more ability to go where we want and take over...sublimating indigeneous cultures and taking land ...an intrinsic entitlement ....even if we are beautiful people with a beautiful vision for our world we take to these places the self righteous consciousness of the white invader...but truely charles i do get it i am in my own way seeking to find an idyllic retreat where i can create my little beautiful world .... but so many sisters and brothers are fleeing living hell i am not sure i can close my eyes ears heart and luxuriate in heaven even if i could find it....i believed in your vision when i read Beautiful World many years ago ...and these last years it has become harder to keep the faith ...however keep the faith we must! Pandora shut the lid on Hope ...Love is the answer xx
Charles: You emailed me today that you replied to your comment on "To Happen Everywhere it Must Happen Somewhere."
Here's what I tried to respond by email but couldn't: "No, you never replied to my comments (which were in answer to a Christine - giving her advice on how to use astrology to learn how a place can affect your life).
I'm living in a D- area according to a locational astrologer in 2013.
I'm living on low SS since, during 30 years of very severe depression and anxiety, I was fired or let go from 38 jobs (including the times I had to quit).
In 2004 I hit a health bottom - was told I had 2 years to Dialysis. Within 6 months of that, I'd researched into Europe to learn I had to eat all organic whole foods, plus I attended a day-long workshop with Jon Kabat-Zinn, after which I began to meditate 30-45 minutes. Over 1 1/2 years I had 9 mystical experiences (and lost 60 lbs. effortlessly).
All of that is what entirely put my life onto a better path.
Living in a HUD-run apt. complex in a city of 50,000 in the western suburbs of Chicago is not what I would have chosen for myself if I'd had a mentally/emotionally healthier life.
However, I can see now at age 78 that I was meant to be here and do activism here, which I've recently stopped (except for promoting Regenerative Agriculture - esp. with Zach Bush).
And now I'm studying to be certified to be a Life Coach. Since 2004 I've acquired many useful skills and knowledge that will help me do this, plus the compassion I can bring to those whose lives were ruined by the Pandemic. (I won't charge a lot.)
So, for a life's mission and purpose, a D- place, can lead us thru a lot of pain and then lessons - which can ultimately lead to evolving us into the person we are meant to be.
Being fully received and nourished — to feel "at home" — is something I've experienced profoundly and articulated to others on many occasions about my own sense of place in the world. It has led me to magical spots all around the Earth and to my current home. It is exactly as Charles describes — when it's right, everything magically and effortlessly opens for you. You are seen and heard without needing to show or tell. It's a tacit sense of community and belonging. And it has the life-enhancing effect of feeling directed by supportive Universal forces. Bolstered by the luminance of life. Guided by Spirit.
Congratulations on finding your "spot." For now. And I only wish for others this super-simple and wholly potent bit of experience so few get to practice: "Love where you live." That alone will transform you're entire life. If you don't love where you live, change it. Find somewhere you do. Life is too short not to LOVE where you spend your time. With love as your guide you are sure to find the somewhere that will love you in return.
Anne Paulus you raise a very good point about governance. I think majority-rule is what most "westerners" are familiar with and it feels normal. You take a vote - the side with the most votes wins. It's democratic! (However, it is not inclusive, engaging or equitable. So yes 49% of people can be disappointed. But it's our default. It's what we know.)
Many of us have been involved with groups that have tried to remedy those limitations by using consensus. Which is generally adopted in the absence of much training and results in one person being able to put a halt to something the rest of the group wants. So there is the potential for 99% of people to be unhappy.
Then, as you point out, there is consent decision-making. Sociocracy aka dynamic governance. I think of it as "consensus lite". haha. It is built on engagement and inclusivity. It's not "just" a way of making decisions. It is a way or organizing with circles instead of committees. And having communication BETWEEN circles is built in to the structure. And there are mechanisms for getting community input built in. So decisions aren't made in isolation then imposed on others. And circles are limited to about 8 members so most meetings can be done in 90 minutes or less.
I'm not familiar with condo law in CR but if it is similar to the US then, yes, they will require the bylaws to specify a hierarchical governing body (President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary). But that doesn't mean the day-to-day functioning is dictated by the board. If laws are similar to the US then the board only has to meet annually and essentially be responsible for the budget.
This article landed in my inbox at just the right time.
I've talked to a Julianne, watched the webinar and booked a flight to San Jose. I would love to connect with others who are pursuing the idea.
I was involved with a co-housing project that fell through because of funding. I learned that the majority of co-housing projects never get built. So it's a relief to finding a community that has already successfully demonstrated that they can manage the immense amount of work, details, paperwork, organization that is required yet still be able to join into a newly forming part of the community.
You're right, that's not a fact but rather an evaluation of how it's received, so what would you call it, a feeling? The point is that it's not carrying a positive outlook on the person nor is it gently pushing them towards a different outlook. That's just how I personally want to be treated and I would bet that you too. There's no evolution on any level except through LOVE. What do you think?
As far as the name calling (holier than thou peeps), I have no desire to communicate on that level. Non-violent communication is essential. Thank you for your comment.
Congratulations Charles, Stella, kids, and Ecovilla! May your presence there help to expurgate any tendencies towards any sort of scarcity-oriented, capitalistic boutique development, may true community flourish, may you all find happiness beyond your wildest dreams, may Ecovilla serve as a model for others, and most importantly, may I come visit someday! Blessings and godspeed.
Charles, you can't really think that taking more of the wild world, and turning it into a playground for the privileged, no matter how "ethically" intended, is what implementing a "new story" is all about. We need LESS of EVERYTHING, including more growth to build eco villages (on the backs of the wild world and brown people). Pu-lease. Be grateful for what you have, make the most of what's right around you, setting the best example of how to love on what you currently are privileged enough to have, right where you are.
I bought and read all your books Charles. I actually started making the conscious effort to live in the 'Gift'. We joined our local permaculture group to meet like minded people. We grow most of our food and have done for years. When we take plants to the plant swap we come home with something, but never more than we offer. My wife chooses the best to take, always. What we have found to our dismay is that all the members have difficulty in growing strong healthy plants. They struggle and maybe because they find that actually growing your own food is hard work. And a bad season can wipe you out. This is what worries me about the 'Ecovilla' project. How much agency and ability do the people have to get stuck in and get hands dirty. Surely there's not enough fruit on the trees to feed 40 or so households? Just my thoughts.
Have I shared that wonderful quote by Tozer yet... 🤔 here it is
“Of all forms of deception self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud.” – Aiden Wilson Tozer”
I mean judge not least thee be judged. Or judge away, you’ll do it anyway, but know that will also be judged. I have accepted that it is inevitable that I will judge you, therefore I am at peace with your judgement of me.
Hey everyone, I brought the concerns raised in these comments to Marcelo, the main co-founder of the project. Here is the recording of the webinar in which he addresses some of them (see below). https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/7YtYG89tUK8OYY61-3InAjfs_ANs1hqKFV6my6bVfYn7Pcbtyh-7xvuIroZ8uVKQ.EfmtfCMgRKxMBeM3He invited me to be on a webinar with him on Thursday, where he will take some time to address them. He says it is much more locally integrated and practical in its social and environmental commitments than people assume. But I will raise the questions in the webinar. It will be on Thursday, 1pm EST. I will post the link when I get it. Obviously, I won't be able to raise ALL of the concerns posted here, and I want to give him the space to espouse his vision and not just answer criticism, but he is willing to engage and I think these questions are important. OK Here is the link https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sDpyWntPTIao3DlOnlWlew?utm_campaign=Lauching%20Campaign&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=245833077&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_QZ1V8TEYDuxWXV0dXuwQDZU97V9YhC8R07_pTpQ2Q2jnF_N1l7yqsDOhv8F93l0yiJB78VbBCmi3W6XKR8rAsHZFokg&utm_content=245833077&utm_source=hs_email
I have been living in Costa Rica for years. I believed the media campaign about Costa Rica’s “exemplary environmental record.” Perhaps at one time that was true, but now it is a horrible greenwashing campaign. If you live here and are able to get a peek behind the scenes, you will see that the development is out of control, the population is sickened with the heaviest pesticide use per capita in the world, the water is polluted and horribly mismanaged, the red tide has been devastating, the wild places are being destroyed while goverment officials are bought off as a “cost of doing business.” If you have an app that translates, stick this report entitled “Hasta la Última Gota” in your translator and let people know! This may help to keep the best parts of Costa Rica from becoming a disaster zone like Tulum. https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:c31ef79b-8fdb-3062-a5bc-c6f50ab71b03
Hi Charles and Stella. Not sure if you’ll see this comment or if I’m too late to the party. I rarely comment and this one feels important. I want you to know that I really resonate with your description of things falling into place and the idea of flying by the seat of your pants being relatively the same as following your intuition. I moved to Maine, more or less on a whim, from an increasingly suburban area of Georgia almost 2 1/2 years ago and had the exact same experience you’ve described about going to Costa Rica. I like to joke that I moved here because I took a wrong turn on my way home from a trip to North Carolina, but that’s pretty much the truth. I left home for a 5 day trip to Asheville and ended up visiting Maine for a month, and had already began letting the decision to move permeate into me about 2 weeks in. Everything just lined up. The land feels so right. There is so much life here. The connections I made were so alive. With people and with other beings. And there were unexpected turns. In fact, most of the plans I made for my first year here completely fell apart. And more beautiful things came to fruition in their wake. I do not regret any of it, even when it had been painful and scary and unclear, I knew in my heart I am supposed to be here. Words cannot describe, I simply have a knowing. Thank you for sharing your most recent aliveness with us. I suspect that things will continue not to be exactly as we think they will turn out, for your family and mine. And that’s okay. I hope you can hold on to the important and beautiful aspects of this leg of your journey. Blessings and peace upon you and your community. Whatever form that takes.
I don't know who has the money to get up and go there.
And what job will you do there to pay the bills?
Maybe this is more for the people who have a big nest egg cause I don't even own a house and y'all acting like this is doable?
It feels like a global gentrification. Of course the early ones get a good price, the later ones pay the "valuation".
Hallo and thankyou for wanting to communicate...mmmm...my comment on your move to costa rica was perhaps unkind - at this time of great turmoil to be able to move to an idyllic haven is so very appealing ...since then i have reflected was my reaction driven by envy?! However thisTime demands that we acknowledge how white skinned folk have always had more freedom more purchase more ability to go where we want and take over...sublimating indigeneous cultures and taking land ...an intrinsic entitlement ....even if we are beautiful people with a beautiful vision for our world we take to these places the self righteous consciousness of the white invader...but truely charles i do get it i am in my own way seeking to find an idyllic retreat where i can create my little beautiful world .... but so many sisters and brothers are fleeing living hell i am not sure i can close my eyes ears heart and luxuriate in heaven even if i could find it....i believed in your vision when i read Beautiful World many years ago ...and these last years it has become harder to keep the faith ...however keep the faith we must! Pandora shut the lid on Hope ...Love is the answer xx
Charles: You emailed me today that you replied to your comment on "To Happen Everywhere it Must Happen Somewhere."
Here's what I tried to respond by email but couldn't: "No, you never replied to my comments (which were in answer to a Christine - giving her advice on how to use astrology to learn how a place can affect your life).
I'm living in a D- area according to a locational astrologer in 2013.
I'm living on low SS since, during 30 years of very severe depression and anxiety, I was fired or let go from 38 jobs (including the times I had to quit).
In 2004 I hit a health bottom - was told I had 2 years to Dialysis. Within 6 months of that, I'd researched into Europe to learn I had to eat all organic whole foods, plus I attended a day-long workshop with Jon Kabat-Zinn, after which I began to meditate 30-45 minutes. Over 1 1/2 years I had 9 mystical experiences (and lost 60 lbs. effortlessly).
All of that is what entirely put my life onto a better path.
Living in a HUD-run apt. complex in a city of 50,000 in the western suburbs of Chicago is not what I would have chosen for myself if I'd had a mentally/emotionally healthier life.
However, I can see now at age 78 that I was meant to be here and do activism here, which I've recently stopped (except for promoting Regenerative Agriculture - esp. with Zach Bush).
And now I'm studying to be certified to be a Life Coach. Since 2004 I've acquired many useful skills and knowledge that will help me do this, plus the compassion I can bring to those whose lives were ruined by the Pandemic. (I won't charge a lot.)
So, for a life's mission and purpose, a D- place, can lead us thru a lot of pain and then lessons - which can ultimately lead to evolving us into the person we are meant to be.
Love from Sally
Myself and my family need this. Alas we have no financial means.
I spent a short year in Costa Rica when I was growing up, and to this day I yearn to return. It resonated with me.
I speak Spanish, I want out of the system, I have five young kids already home schooled. Unschooled. It would be perfect. But we have no means.
I wish there were a model could work for us. Sending loving energy.
Being fully received and nourished — to feel "at home" — is something I've experienced profoundly and articulated to others on many occasions about my own sense of place in the world. It has led me to magical spots all around the Earth and to my current home. It is exactly as Charles describes — when it's right, everything magically and effortlessly opens for you. You are seen and heard without needing to show or tell. It's a tacit sense of community and belonging. And it has the life-enhancing effect of feeling directed by supportive Universal forces. Bolstered by the luminance of life. Guided by Spirit.
Congratulations on finding your "spot." For now. And I only wish for others this super-simple and wholly potent bit of experience so few get to practice: "Love where you live." That alone will transform you're entire life. If you don't love where you live, change it. Find somewhere you do. Life is too short not to LOVE where you spend your time. With love as your guide you are sure to find the somewhere that will love you in return.
Anne Paulus you raise a very good point about governance. I think majority-rule is what most "westerners" are familiar with and it feels normal. You take a vote - the side with the most votes wins. It's democratic! (However, it is not inclusive, engaging or equitable. So yes 49% of people can be disappointed. But it's our default. It's what we know.)
Many of us have been involved with groups that have tried to remedy those limitations by using consensus. Which is generally adopted in the absence of much training and results in one person being able to put a halt to something the rest of the group wants. So there is the potential for 99% of people to be unhappy.
Then, as you point out, there is consent decision-making. Sociocracy aka dynamic governance. I think of it as "consensus lite". haha. It is built on engagement and inclusivity. It's not "just" a way of making decisions. It is a way or organizing with circles instead of committees. And having communication BETWEEN circles is built in to the structure. And there are mechanisms for getting community input built in. So decisions aren't made in isolation then imposed on others. And circles are limited to about 8 members so most meetings can be done in 90 minutes or less.
I'm not familiar with condo law in CR but if it is similar to the US then, yes, they will require the bylaws to specify a hierarchical governing body (President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary). But that doesn't mean the day-to-day functioning is dictated by the board. If laws are similar to the US then the board only has to meet annually and essentially be responsible for the budget.
Was the webinar recorded for those who missed it? Thanks.
This article landed in my inbox at just the right time.
I've talked to a Julianne, watched the webinar and booked a flight to San Jose. I would love to connect with others who are pursuing the idea.
I was involved with a co-housing project that fell through because of funding. I learned that the majority of co-housing projects never get built. So it's a relief to finding a community that has already successfully demonstrated that they can manage the immense amount of work, details, paperwork, organization that is required yet still be able to join into a newly forming part of the community.
You're right, that's not a fact but rather an evaluation of how it's received, so what would you call it, a feeling? The point is that it's not carrying a positive outlook on the person nor is it gently pushing them towards a different outlook. That's just how I personally want to be treated and I would bet that you too. There's no evolution on any level except through LOVE. What do you think?
As far as the name calling (holier than thou peeps), I have no desire to communicate on that level. Non-violent communication is essential. Thank you for your comment.
Congratulations Charles, Stella, kids, and Ecovilla! May your presence there help to expurgate any tendencies towards any sort of scarcity-oriented, capitalistic boutique development, may true community flourish, may you all find happiness beyond your wildest dreams, may Ecovilla serve as a model for others, and most importantly, may I come visit someday! Blessings and godspeed.
Charles, you can't really think that taking more of the wild world, and turning it into a playground for the privileged, no matter how "ethically" intended, is what implementing a "new story" is all about. We need LESS of EVERYTHING, including more growth to build eco villages (on the backs of the wild world and brown people). Pu-lease. Be grateful for what you have, make the most of what's right around you, setting the best example of how to love on what you currently are privileged enough to have, right where you are.
I bought and read all your books Charles. I actually started making the conscious effort to live in the 'Gift'. We joined our local permaculture group to meet like minded people. We grow most of our food and have done for years. When we take plants to the plant swap we come home with something, but never more than we offer. My wife chooses the best to take, always. What we have found to our dismay is that all the members have difficulty in growing strong healthy plants. They struggle and maybe because they find that actually growing your own food is hard work. And a bad season can wipe you out. This is what worries me about the 'Ecovilla' project. How much agency and ability do the people have to get stuck in and get hands dirty. Surely there's not enough fruit on the trees to feed 40 or so households? Just my thoughts.
Have I shared that wonderful quote by Tozer yet... 🤔 here it is
“Of all forms of deception self-deception is the most deadly, and of all deceived persons the self-deceived are the least likely to discover the fraud.” – Aiden Wilson Tozer”
I mean judge not least thee be judged. Or judge away, you’ll do it anyway, but know that will also be judged. I have accepted that it is inevitable that I will judge you, therefore I am at peace with your judgement of me.