This week is moving week. After 10.5 months living just a quick skip away from the beach, we are moving on to a new chapter.
We landed at the sleepy beach town of Playa Bejuco just as borders were closing here in Costa Rica and around the world. To say we felt unsettled moving homes during this big change on Earth is an understatement. However, it ended up being exactly what we needed to ride out the wave we’ve all been on since March.
Our initial stay was only supposed to be 6 weeks. Prior to the world shutting down, we had envisioned moving onto a new country after our short stay by the beach.
That changed quickly though. We took life on a month-by-month basis, and worked it out with our amicable landlord to extend our stay each month. We felt comfortable here. It allowed for a sense of stability that we craved while life outside felt quite unstable.
An opportunity to go inward
Life here in this condo by the beach has been quite simple.
We’ve spent much of our time developing our own self-awareness and going deeper with our healing. With so much beyond our control outside of us, we’ve given our attention to that which we can control, which is ourselves.
This has looked like time at the beach, either swimming in the ocean or walking, meditating, journaling, expanding our skills, and playing with our children.
It’s meant being okay with existing within our little slice of the Earth.
It’s meant loyally supporting the couple of restaurants that we love and want to see survive and thrive through this period of time.
It’s meant understanding more deeply what we value and aligning our lives to the simplicity of what we feel matters.
This has been a chance for us to grow in a way that has been unique to any other time in our lives.
Closing of one chapter and opening of a new
We’re approaching a year and half now of living in Costa Rica. During this time, we’ve lived in one other home.
Looking back, these two living experiences are two very distinct chapters of our lives.
Our first six months in Costa Rica were expansive in its own way. It involved us clearing away many of the cobwebs of our lives and identities. Those first six months prepared us to handle the shocks of 2020 with much more ease than had those cobwebs still been present.
Ever since the fall of 2020, I’ve had the sense that we’d move on in the beginning months of 2021. Initially, I had envisioned transitioning to a new country, but the unpredictably of the world right now and the feeling of having more work to do resulted in us deciding to remain in Costa Rica (for now).
Serendipity to guide the way
I’ve written before about my experiences with an area called Dominical. It’s an area that has had a pull on me since our first month in Costa Rica, and I’ve had many serendipitous experiences involving this area.
That serendipity helped us find our next home. We began looking for houses and felt somewhat defeated with regard to what was available within our price range.
I began (briefly) to question whether moving there was going to work out. I sat with it though and realized that I was worried. I wasn’t trusting that this would work out. I doubted.
I also saw this to be an opportunity to exercise trust. I envisioned this move working out and released any doubt that it would not. I called on all the experiences up until that point where the future was uncertain and the circumstances unfolded beautifully.
The next morning, I let our landlord know we would not be extending our rental after January – despite not having anything else lined up.
That night, I had the urge to message a friend I had met the previous year at the yoga retreat. I hadn’t spoken with her since, but I followed the impulse. She lives in Canada, but she owns a home in that area. She gave me all sorts of resources to pursue.
The following morning, I wrote my ask to the universe – and one of the Facebook groups she recommended.
I received a few responses, but one of them stood out. Someone that had shown us a house during the summer when we had explored the possibility of moving messaged me. She had a house available that she hadn’t listed yet.
That was on a Sunday. On Thursday, Christmas Eve, we went down to see the house that we have since committed to living in for the next six months.
This experience was an obvious demonstration to me of what can happen when we let go of doubt and trust that what comes next will happen in our best interest.
Intentions for the chapter ahead
The chapter ahead feels equally distinct from the last two.
For myself, I envision a continued deepening of the relationship with myself and including a more focused component on my physical strength and health.
For our family, I see more adventures and exploring in nature. There are many waterfalls in that area that I see us connecting with.
Additionally, we are welcoming in more connection with community in the real world. The opportunity for isolation has served us well during the past ten months, and we see this next chapter being an opportunity for conscious community to complement the intentional isolation.
One day, I see us settling again. However, I feel there are more experiences and environments to explore before we do so.
We’ll see if these next six months are extended or another chapter awaits us. We have visions of what may lie ahead for use, but we can only be present with the next chapter and see what it reveals to us.
View some images from our time in Playa Bejuco
