Sometimes things just won’t start looking up until you start looking up.  I am now securely moved into my new home and working out of my humble little store where we sell indigenous arts and crafts from various Costa Rican tribes.  The new scaled-down version of my life fits sort of well.  I always thought it was important to think big and be big, a very “American” view of success.  But what really matters is not how “big” you are, but how large an impact you can have. And you can’t have much of an impact if you are always drowning in bills that flow like a river from the “cuenca” of your attempts to be bigger than you really need to be.  This blog has brought me full circle in terms of my thinking and being.  In the course of writing it I have harbored big dreams and visions.  Dreams of being that “go-to guy” for anyone out there interested in Costa Rica.  Well I am that guy, but just in a quieter, humbler and less stressful way.  I hope my love of Costa Rica has shown through these posts.  I mean, I hope my writing has in some ways lived up to the title.  I love where I live, love what I do and love writing with the hope that someone out there will get either a laugh, a message of encouragement, or a hint of what it is like to live in Costa Rica.  My plan is to keep writing. The title of this 365th post is “Nuevo Comienzo” and that is exactly what it brings me to, both in terms of my writing and living here in this tiny little spec of paradise I call home.  Of course, bright and early tomorrow expect Reason #1 all over again.

Pura Vida and thanks for reading me.

I am currently working with several indigenous groups in Costa Rica that are known for their arts and crafts.  What they do, in fact what any artist does, is amazing when you think about it.  It especially amazes me when something incredibly beautiful is created simply from the natural resources that the earth provides, combined with the creativity and ingenuity of the artist.  These guys take plants like the jicara fruit, or a piece of balsa or bamboo, with paints created from roots and flowers, and produce truly amazing products.  Nothing fancy about what they do.  It is pure and primitive, yet beautiful.  I guess that is what art is supposed to be….the ability to create something out of virtually nothing.  To take a blank canvass, whatever it may consist of materially, and create a masterpiece that others look at and say, wow!  Then once you have created it, you need to display it to the world.  That’s where I come in.  Via Costa Rican Artisans I am trying to create for these expert craftsmen and women a marketing platform.  Sure they have their roadside stands in the remote places that they inhabit and once and a while a tourist will stumble by.  But their art is too precious, too valuable, to be limited to that marketing forum alone.  The whole world needs to know about this stuff and about the humble, honest and honorable people that create it.  I am telling you about this to make a subtle point.  If value can be created, the word eventually will get out.  I truly believe that.  It may take time.  You could even say there has to be some “luck” involved.  I personally don’t believe in luck.  I’d rather call it fate, or karma, or something like that.  In other words if you create something truly that is of value and do it with a giving spirit, then the universe will return the favor and make sure your creation is publicized.  That’s not luck, it’s physics.  But we get caught in the trap of worrying about “the money.”  As soon as you start thinking that way, then the mentality of lack creeps in and stops us dead in our tracks.  The Maleku or Brunka artisan don’t think that way when he or she picks up that piece of balsa wood and begins to carve.  The only thing occupying the mind at that point is to unleash that pent up creativity and produce a piece that is a true expression of their love and their culture.  I believe we can translate that sentiment of artistic expression to anything that we do passionately.  And the world will take notice sooner or later.

Costa Rican Artisans web site

I opened an art gallery in a commercial center located here in San Jose, Costa Rica.  Granted starting any new business is tough and this particular commercial center has seen its better days.  Even so, it amazes me to see throngs of tourists walking by without the slightest bit of interest.  It amazes me because the gallery has some really interesting stuff.  After all, they are in Costa Rica, so you would think that something as authentically Costa Rican as a piece of hand-crafted indigenous art would be of some interest?  Of course there are those who are wide eyed and wowed by my Brunka masks, my Maleku rain sticks and tambors and other items that are hand-carved from exotic tropical forest woods and intricately painted with scenes of Costa Rica’s amazing biodiversity.  But those are the exceptions.  So my question this morning for those disinterested folks is this…what exactly ARE you interested in?  It seems like the answer would be eating, or drinking, or maybe buying a cheap souvenir made in China, but that has the Imperial logo on it.  The world is an interesting place.  Costa Rica is really interesting for an amazing variety of reasons that go much further than just a place to come to get drunk, get laid and do a canopy tour.  If all this sounds like sour grapes because my store is not selling like I want it to, well then I guess my point is not coming across. Which is, GET INTERESTED!  If not in my stuff, then for god sakes, in “something.”  Something other than yourself, that is.  A deep curiosity about life and about why things are is to me what makes it all so, well, worth living.  It is not all about work, eat, drink, sex, occasional vacation, more work, more eating, drinking, sex, etc., etc.  Some people seem to come to Costa Rica to do the same basic crap they do back home, but just to do it in a more exotic setting.  To me being bored, or in Spanish, “aburrido,” (a phrase I hear too often from Lily’s teenage kids) is simply to have a lack of curiosity about life. So get curious, get interested, and stop being bored (resist that “lizard,” remember?).  You can do it!  And then get your soon to be fat-ass into my store, or at least visit us online.

A long time ago, really a long time ago, I had this great idea of a web site offering Costa Rica products.  After all, since everyone is so wild about Costa Rica, why wouldn’t it work?  They could order Imperial and Britt Coffee and have it delivered right to their doorsteps.  Well, that idea never came to fruition, but instead evolved into the notion of a web site that gave local artists a portal to peddle their crafts to those outside the country.  But the exact who, what and where of that idea became a little exasperating as there are countless artists in every corner of the country (another thing that I love about this place).  So I began thinking of something more focused and sustainable, something that could possibly make a difference, as well as potentially being a fruitful business opportunity.  Then all of a sudden, eureka! The idea came to me to do a site focused exclusively on indigenous art.  After all, what better token of Costa Rica than something made by an authentic indigenous person?  And they make some really cool stuff.  So over the past several months I have been traveling around the country meeting with these diverse indigenous groups and making small art buys for the purposes of building a web site.  What I ended up with is an office full of art.  Sitting there all day looking at all this beautiful stuff, I begin to think how can I take this even a step further?  Eureka once again!  How about a Costa Rican Artisans store?  A place where you can buy authentic indigenous art rather than some souvenir trinket that says “pura vida,” but was actually “made in China.”  So after months and months of deliberation, planning and traveling around making friends with these great people, the Costa Rican Artisans store will open this week (with the web site, Ebay Store, Facebook Group, etc. to follow soon thereafter).  The idea is to do this as a “partnership” with the indigenous.  In that light, we make our buys on a “fair trade” basis, in which the indigenous receive a fair price and get the cash upfront…not when a sale is later made.  We also will be donating 10% of total sales proceeds to indigenous projects.  Moreover, we plan to offer you the opportunity to get involved helping these people, who are often overlooked by the government and live in extremely harsh conditions.  Like Package Costa Rica, I truly believe Costa Rican Artisans will be a labor of love for me.  Nothing is easy and I don’t expect this to be any different, but when you are doing something that you feel really makes a difference, it makes the rough spots much more endurable.

Costa Rican Indigenous Art Squidoo Lens

Costa Rican Artisans Web Site (click here)

Lately we have been engaged in a project with the indigenous of Costa Rica.  We are creating a web site that features indigenous arts and crafts and in the process of creating it we are visiting and shooting video of five tribes known for their art.  Last week we visited Guaitil, where the tradition of the Chorotegas is kept alive in the creation of beautiful pottery.  Previously we had visited the Maleku tribe, who are known for their carved and colorfully painted balsa masks, as well as other items.  One thing that is clear from these visits is that the indigenous really are passionate about their work.  It represents their heritage, their culture, their world view.  And they take great pride in every piece.  The families of Guaitil who make pottery in the timeless Chorotega fashion produce each piece in a meticulous manner with focused attention to each small detail of the process.  That attention to detail and the striving for perfection presents an excellent lesson for life.  Of course, perfection is unattainable and therefore a standard of perfection makes no sense and will only lead to frustration.  However, excellence is another thing.  We can at least strive for the unattainable and when we fall short, we stand a greater chance of hitting the mark of excellence.  These people, while they live in conditions that most of the world would consider impoverished, nevertheless rise each day to hone their craft to the mark of excellence.  Their motivation is not monetary, as the reward they receive for their work barely provides food, shelter and clothing.  No, it is something far deeper.  Something that is entrenched in the recesses of their souls.  Because, you see, what they create with their hands represents who they are.  And, perhaps surprisingly, it is the same with you and me.  What we do each day and the quality by which we do it represents us to the world.  And make no bones about it, the world demands excellence.  Anything short of that is, sadly, ordinary or worse.  Do you want to be ordinary?  So take a clue from the Chorotegas, the Malekus and other indigenous groups and imbue all that you do with the mark of excellence.  It’s like my mother always told me, if you’re going to do something, do it well.

Chorotega Pottery Video from Costa Rican Artisans…