Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself.
– L. Wolfe Gilbert, Russian-born American songwriter
In two weeks, I leave for Nicaragua. To San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua specifically – one of the most sought after surfing beaches in the world.
I have invested in forming a company there which has brought 10 acres of land focusing on developing sustainable communities.
But the first question I get from everyone is “Why Nicaragua?” And a mixed reaction of shock, horror, fear and even admiration. Because you must admit…it takes a lot of spunk and a vast leap of faith and courage to go halfway across the world to a continent I have never gone to before and actually build a second home there – without even checking it out first.
But the universe has its own way of making your dreams happen, even if it is not exactly how you envisioned it. I always wanted a farm…to live off the land and far from the sometimes-suffocating madness and claustrophobic routines of a city. All I have ever known my whole life is the city – being born, bred and raised in cities.
And to leave it all behind and even think of living on a farm was fearful. To leave the comfort zone and go places you have never gone before, to do things you have never done before. To pioneer in projects that have no precedence. To blaze a path and chart new territories. This is what defines an adventure.
And an adventure is what I have wanted my whole life. A riotous, wondrous adventure that swirls me up, challenges me and takes me to meet people I would have never met before, in places I would have never ordinarily gone before. I don’t want safe. I don’t want boring. I don’t want same old, same old – I want that adventure. So, Nicaragua is my adventure and it combines my dream of a farm too. A farm I start from scratch with like-minded partners with a similar vision of gathering a tribe and living the ultimate dream of being one with nature.
Everyone I know thinks I am slightly mad, but that is okay. I take calculated risks. I weigh all possibilities. I also listen to my heart and my instincts and I have never needed validation from anyone, as I have seen too often people who have no skin in the game giving advice they have no idea about. They equate doing something different as a certain madness, but I see it as the actions of a free spirit that has not been broken down by conventionalism.
In smart cities, people became enslaved to limited choices of what they can buy from supermarkets and what they can read, where they can go and how they can entertain themselves. They have lost all natural instincts of survival.
They have forgotten how to farm – to grow their own food and eat them free from harmful pesticides or preservative and having it not genetically modified.
They have forgotten how to draw their own water and purify it and drink pure clean water from their very own land, without needing to rely on city councils to deliver it. Remember when they added fluorite in our waters which was actually harmful?
They have forgotten what it feels like to walk barefoot and feel the earth beneath us, to ground themselves with Mother Nature.
They have forgotten what it is like to sleep under the stars at night, and feel the wind caressing the skin, to hear how the night sounds like.
They have forgotten what freedom actually feels like because they are too busy trying to conform to whatever it is they think society expects of them.
So, this city girl is going to find out how it all actually feels like. To free fall head first into an adventure beyond most people’s wildest imaginations.
I got a lot of flak for that too. My ex heard something about it from someone and barraged me with a whole load of abuse over text – on New Year’s Day from 10.30 am to 11.30 am (typical though. Which is why he is the ex) and called me stupid, dumb, fugitive, schizophrenic, said I will die alone, kids would abandon me, he won’t help (never asked him for help), I would be scammed and become a vagabond etc etc.
I told him to relax, have a beer and blocked him. Something I should have done a few years ago. But this is exactly the kind of toxicity I feel I will leave behind. The toxicity of fear that permeates city folks who live in their bubble and see everything outside their radar as a terrifying ogre.
I refuse to be that person. I want to live fearlessly. To take chances. To not just exist, but live.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune. Feedback can reach the writer at beatrice@ibrasiagroup.com
