I happen to love Trader Joe's with it's pre-packaged knock-offs, reasonable prices and the promise of non-GMO food (otherwise known as "food"). But since the roof collapsed on our local TJs in January I've had to confront an inconvenient truth: Trader Joe's is part of my "runner-up" lifestyle. It's not the clean, healthy and balanced lifestyle I aspire to, but it's some of the best processed food around. Some of it is even organic. And that's something. At least that's what I tell myself when I'm in a hurry. And I'm in a hurry way too often.
The path of least resistance is so shiny and pretty. It's lined with ease and convenience in every size, flavor and color. Superfood pills, delivery services, remotes, apps, snapchats and portable/disposable everything are available at the press of a button. Information and news is delivered in easily digestible soundbites so I can "know" everything in no time at all. All this so I can move at the speed of life, which only continues to accelerate.
Theoretically, I should be getting things done and saving loads of time for other more meaningful things, but instead I feel the laws of physics taking hold. An object in motion does indeed tend to stay in motion. And somehow, rather than advancing, I find my skills and resourcefulness deteriorating while I run around like a hamster on a state-of-the-art wheel.
"Use it or lose it" becomes profoundly scary when I realize that I have forfeited significant muscle memory and brain power to the ever-growing array of modern convenience. Now that my life is stored on my phone, I no longer know the phone numbers of my closest friends and struggle to remember appointments without it. I noticed in a recent yoga class that I was doing a stretch that I used to do every time I backed out of a parking spot. It felt great - like I really needed it - but I rarely do that stretch outside of yoga since they put rearview cameras in cars. Somewhere along the way, quality of life became about ease and we started opting out. But taking shortcuts through life doesn't sound like a very good idea as I watch kids let autocorrect handle their spelling mistakes. Nor does spending it immobilized in front of a screen.
In recent years, my family has embarked on some lifestyle research, making trips to Costa Rica to discover the secrets of "Pura Vida" or "Pure Life". These trips are not about lounging on beach chaises while people bring us fancy cocktails with tiny umbrellas, yet they heal and fulfill us in ways that luxury vacations never have. They are about getting enough sleep and waking with the sun to the sound of howler monkeys. This lifestyle requires us to walk to the farmer's market to buy fresh produce and make a separate stop at to buy fresh catch of the day. We chop vegetables and eat food that was recently alive and we taste the difference. We do our own laundry and compost our food scraps. We spend lots of time outside being active and then retreat to the shade, when the rains come or when the heat peaks, to rest. We go surfing. We do yoga. We sweat... a lot. We rely on the cooperation of our environment and our neighbors to get what we need and nature dictates they rhythm of our day. Sometimes we confront challenges and we have to get creative. And when we get to the other side of those challenges, we feel a great sense of achievement and connection.
Pure Vida is not convenient and it's conspicuously void of shortcuts. But it is healthy, delicious and meaningful and it's a lifestyle I would love to bring to my everyday. If there is a formula to Pura Vida, it goes something like this:
Slow down.
Go barefoot.
Read novels, not excerpts.
Make your own food and eat it with someone you love.
Equal amounts of play and rest.
Notice breathing, sleeping, and smiling. Savor them.
Stop and smell the flowers.
Recalibrate to the rhythm of nature.
Taking the scenic route through life may take longer, and that's great. It's a journey I'd like to enjoy.
