{"id":1385,"date":"2016-03-31T09:45:08","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T16:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/?p=1385"},"modified":"2016-04-07T11:28:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T18:28:36","slug":"hola-de-costa-rica-conscious-creativity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/creative-inspiration\/2016\/03\/hola-de-costa-rica-conscious-creativity\/","title":{"rendered":"Hola de Costa Rica! \/ Conscious Creativity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_1400\" style=\"width: 3274px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1400\" class=\"wp-image-1400 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Costa-Rica-Hillside-Sunset.jpg\" alt=\"Costa Rica - Hillside Sunset\" width=\"3264\" height=\"2448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Costa-Rica-Hillside-Sunset.jpg 3264w, https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Costa-Rica-Hillside-Sunset-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Costa-Rica-Hillside-Sunset-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Costa-Rica-Hillside-Sunset-624x468.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3264px) 100vw, 3264px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1400\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amazing smokey purple-pink magic sunset I captured from my balcony in Costa Rica.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u00a1Hola a todos!<\/p>\n<p>As I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve figured out from the title of this post&#8230; I&#8217;m in Costa Rica!!<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s\u00a0what I&#8217;ve been up to over the past six\u00a0weeks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Switched web hosts<br \/>\n(Which took longer than expected,<br \/>\nand sadly bumped me out of the habit of blogging as often as I&#8217;d prefer)<\/li>\n<li>Attended &#8220;Anarchapulco&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Experienced <a href=\"http:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/turista\" target=\"_blank\">Turista<\/a> for way too long<\/li>\n<li>Attended Sasha&#8217;s Direct Dating &#8220;Relationship Mastery&#8221; Summit<br \/>\n(Steve was one of the speakers)<\/li>\n<li>Met new people and made some new friends<\/li>\n<li>Walked in the waters of the Acapulco Bay<\/li>\n<li>Took in many beautiful sunsets over the Acapulco Bay<\/li>\n<li>Was bitten by way too many mosquitoes<\/li>\n<li>Rode in one of the public buses in Acapulco &#8212; a very unique experience!<\/li>\n<li>Went to the Acapulco Historical Museum<\/li>\n<li>Visited the cliffs in Acapulco where the cliff divers dive<\/li>\n<li>Enjoyed a lot of delicious green juice and vegan food<\/li>\n<li>Played games with friends \u00a0&#8212; Carcassonne, Spades, and Asshole.<br \/>\n(Getting to be an undefeated President is fun!)<\/li>\n<li>Relaxed<\/li>\n<li>Said bye to my sweetheart &#8212; I hate goodbyes \ud83d\ude41<\/li>\n<li>Witnessed one of the most epic thunderstorms I&#8217;ve ever seen!<\/li>\n<li>Watched a building get struck by lightning<\/li>\n<li>Flew from Acapulco to Mexico City<\/li>\n<li>Felt pretty ill during and after the flight &#8212; such massive turbulence! \ud83d\ude1b<\/li>\n<li>Flew from Mexico City to San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica<\/li>\n<li>Used Uber a bunch for the first time on my own. It Rocks!<\/li>\n<li>Spent time hanging out in San Jos\u00e9<\/li>\n<li>Had my most expensive Starbucks latte ever<br \/>\n(And that&#8217;s with free soy milk and a 10% discount for Gold Card members!)<\/li>\n<li>Discovered that $an Jo$\u00e9 is the 2nd most expensive city in Central America<\/li>\n<li>Met up with a friend I hadn&#8217;t seen in years<\/li>\n<li>Made a new friend via Airbnb<\/li>\n<li>Visited the Costa Rican Art Gallery<\/li>\n<li>Walked around in a park<\/li>\n<li>Watched the new season of House of Cards<\/li>\n<li>Traveled to San Isidro de El General<\/li>\n<li>Moved into a\u00a0little apartment that will be my home for about a month<\/li>\n<li>Got freaked out by giant cockroaches<\/li>\n<li>Was startled by loud geckos<\/li>\n<li>Made friends with the geckos<\/li>\n<li>Drank fresh green smoothies and ate vegan burritos<\/li>\n<li>Got bit by more mosquitos<\/li>\n<li>Was followed home by a random stray dog<\/li>\n<li>Enjoying the beautiful view from my balcony<\/li>\n<li>Witnessed the most magical hillside sunset ever<br \/>\n(As pictured at the beginning\u00a0of this post)<\/li>\n<li>Attended a gathering where I got meet and learn about indigenous peoples of the area<\/li>\n<li>Getting grossed out and paranoid about\u00a0eating oranges after discovering well over a dozen little worms in one of the oranges I had sliced up and was about to eat.<\/li>\n<li>Exercised a little bravery and decided to start eating oranges again after not eating them for a few days.<\/li>\n<li>Making a lot simple and relatively inexpensive vegan meals<br \/>\n(Quinoa and nuts are SO expensive here!)<\/li>\n<li>Reading some Eckhart Tolle<\/li>\n<li>Pondering too many things<\/li>\n<li>Studying\u00a0Spanish<\/li>\n<li>And, finally, blogging and writing again!<\/li>\n<li><em>Addendum:\u00a0<\/em><em>I&#8217;d like to add getting the bejesus scared out of me by the largest bug I&#8217;ve seen in my life flying into my living room through an open balcony door. (Screened doors and windows don&#8217;t seem to be a thing here. I have no idea why.) Seriously, it could have been mistaken for a small bird or bat. It was big, dark, and ugly. I think perhaps\u00a0it was a cicada. This thing was so big and loud I could hear it bumping into things and flopping around behind my closed bedroom door, where I temporarily hid myself hoping this giant bug would eventually leave on its own. I think it did. Before it did, it was even scratching at the door for a while, as if it wanted to get in. WTF?<br \/>\n&#8230;Weird shit like this happens to me all the time, I swear.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So many different types of things have been happening over the past six\u00a0weeks, it seems too much to cover in detail in one blog post&#8230; hence, the above list! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>If anyone happens to have any questions about any of the above, please feel free to ask in the comments, and I&#8217;ll be sure to respond. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<h2>Conscious Creativity and Being a Conscious Creator<\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to believe I&#8217;ve been here in Costa Rica for three weeks already. I&#8217;ve been taking it pretty easy. But in another sense, I&#8217;ve been a bit hard on myself, as I&#8217;ve been tormenting myself thinking obsessively about the future &#8212; My career path, life in general, and specifically regarding figuring out where to stay next; I want to stay somewhere that isn&#8217;t too pricey nor too isolated, yet someplace that also meets my needs for comfort and happiness, such as a pedestrian friendly and lively area, vegan friendly caf\u00e9s and restaurants nearby, a cozy room or apartment\u00a0that feels like someplace I can truly call home, and friendly people that I can converse and hang out with and relate to. I&#8217;m pretty sure I found the perfect spot for me, and I&#8217;m excited to temporarily live\u00a0there (back in San Jos\u00e9) for more than a month after the end of my current month&#8217;s lease for the budget apartment where I&#8217;m currently staying in P\u00e9rez Zeled\u00f3n \/ San Isidro de El General.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned above, I&#8217;ve also been \u00a0tormenting myself trying to figure out &#8220;my life&#8221;. Despite having spent three weeks on my own here in Costa Rica, I still feel as though I haven&#8217;t quite figured anything out. Actually, that&#8217;s not entirely accurate &#8212; I think I&#8217;ve figured out one of my biggest hinderance, which is definitely a good step in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s become somewhat of an ingrained habit of mine to perpetually think\/live in the future; continually planning out when and where and what I&#8217;ll be doing when I&#8217;m not visiting or traveling with the love of my life, wanting to nail down\u00a0when exactly we&#8217;ll get to be together again, and so on. This mental habit had already been a part of my life long before Steve and I ever got together, based on the contract-nature of theatre work, not to mention other aspects of youth that reinforced this particular pattern. That is to say, I&#8217;m rather used to it. But seeing as\u00a0I&#8217;ve been in a long distance relationship for over six years now, this habit has become even more ingrained than before.<\/p>\n<p>What it boils down to is this: When I have time to work on projects I&#8217;ve been wanting to work on, I&#8217;m\u00a0compelled\u00a0to put them on the back burner while I instead obsess my\u00a0focus on determining my\u00a0plans for the future, which more often than not results in ignoring the here and now and thus getting much of nothing done &#8212; save for possibly figuring out and making\u00a0travel plans, like booking flights and accommodations. These little things give me a little sense of security in my very &#8220;up in the air&#8221; lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s becoming obvious to me this habit gives rise\u00a0to\u00a0a mind that doesn&#8217;t know what to do with itself when it&#8217;s not attempting to focus on the future &#8212; or, in other words, when it&#8217;s focusing on anything but the here and now in the present. It can be hard for me to focus on the present moment because I may start feeling anxious over my\u00a0lack of future-focused thought.<\/p>\n<p>I know, this is kind of messed up! I know that if I want to live the life of a conscious creator, I must\u00a0drastically change my predominant thought patterns and mental habits; if I keep doing what I&#8217;ve been doing, I know I&#8217;m just going to keep getting more of what I&#8217;ve already been getting! Can I have a habit and thought pattern interrupt, please?<\/p>\n<p>What are the best methods\u00a0of\u00a0pattern interruption that will give rise\u00a0to a thorough focus on the present moment of a creative task? I&#8217;m still trying to figure out the best approach\u00a0for pattern interruption, but so far I&#8217;ve come up with\u00a0a few simple tactics\u00a0that lend a helping hand:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Meditate:<\/strong> Focus on your\u00a0breath, heighten your awareness, and still the mind. Focus on simply existing in the present moment. Stay in that place of presence until its beautiful and wondrous nature\u00a0fill you with joy and power. Now you have your fuel for your creative endeavor.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get busy<\/strong>: This can be doing anything active, like cleaning, making your bed, doing laundry, making a meal. While going through the actions of these activities, try to silence the mental chatter going on in your head and instead silently focus on the task at hand. It will\u00a0be a lot easier to go from the conscious-chore-action to conscious-creative-action vs unconscious-mental-chatter-inaction to conscious-creative-action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Exercise<\/strong>: This is similar to the above suggestion, but in addition the keeping the flow of action and momentum going, the increased oxygen in your blood supply will provide added mental energy, enabling you to focus more on the present moment and your\u00a0creative task at hand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I plan on putting these practices to use over the coming\u00a0weeks. I think it&#8217;s working, because\u00a0it helped me to focus on writing this very blog post. (I started it at least a week earlier\u00a0but then felt too mentally-cluttered to focus on finishing it.) Focusing on the present moment instead of trying to figure out &#8220;my life&#8221; and &#8220;the future&#8221; definitely helps.<\/p>\n<p>For now, I still don&#8217;t feel like I have my life figured out quite yet, and I still have a lot of uncertainty as to\u00a0what my future might be. But that&#8217;s okay. I think it&#8217;s better to live and create in the power of the present\u00a0moment vs being stuck in my head all day wondering what the hell I should be doing\u00a0my life. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;And so, at least for now, that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m going to do &#8212; focus on conscious creation in the flow of the eternal now. \u00a0Let&#8217;s see where I end up!<\/p>\n<p>Pura Vida!<\/p>\n<p>xox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a1Hola a todos! As I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ve figured out from the title of this post&#8230; I&#8217;m in Costa Rica!! Here&#8217;s\u00a0what I&#8217;ve been up to over the past six\u00a0weeks: Switched web hosts (Which took longer than expected, and sadly bumped me out of the habit of blogging as often as I&#8217;d prefer) Attended &#8220;Anarchapulco&#8221; Experienced Turista [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,17,23,9,63,118,124,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1385\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachellefordyce.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}