Wiseing

Someone once said: “Wisdom is a renewable resource”.  Buckminster Fuller in his book “I Seem To Be A Verb” advocated thinking in terms of action by adding “ing” to many nouns.

We are just leaving final customs check at San Jose’s airport.  Ahead of us is a big commotion.  The customs inspector has stopped 2 large carts being pushed by 2 young women in full belly dance costume.  The carts are piled high with luggage and on top of that is another pile of hula hoops.  Children dance around the carts with tambourines and a customs inspector is confused.  One of the women answers his question by showing him what belly dance looks like and he turns around and looks at me with a big grin.  He motions for me to come over and together we push the carts out to the curb.  One boy, perhaps 10, is standing guard and I ask him what this is all about.  He says with the greatest enthusiasm “We’re teaching belly dance, on the beach!”  I ask him if he does belly dance and he looks at me with a deep seriousness that children can have.  “Do fish have fins?”

Welcome to Costa Rica.  You are here now.  It is a rich land and a global magnet for teaching, learning, those who teach learning, and those who learn teaching.  You are at home now because that is the world you cherish.

When I first saw the estate I thought, this is the perfect place for teaching and learning.  It will be a campus some day.  When we first arrived we went to class with Ed and Jesse Bernhardt who have a school nearby with many programs related to growing things.  Ed is a published author, famous in fact, on the subject of herbal healing using local plants.  Jesse is a very gifted language teacher and also knows a great deal about becoming well.  Shortly after that we had a visit at the estate from Gabriela Calderon who teaches about plants coming from a deep academic background, but thinking about them as a visionary.

There is a constant ebb and flow of people with ideas to share here and you are now part of that.  The estate will teach you many things, and in turn, you will be able to pass on what you learn and the world will be better.

Sepp Holzer is a man now in his 80’s who teaches a special concept of farming on a steep mountainside in Austria.  His approach involves aquaculture in ponds and fruit trees that benefit from enhanced ground water.  The estate seems like a good place to work with these ideas and of course such work could be a learning experience that many would value.  It goes without saying that, as Holzer advocates, wildlife gains in the process.

Vandana Shiva, now 73,  has a school in India where she teaches companion planting with seeds provided by nature.  She has been called the Gandhi of seeds because of her battle against GMO control over Indian farms.  Shiva has written something on the order of 20 books and speaks internationally, but she has time to make sure that her plants are well and helping each other.

If you are a person like the ones mentioned above you will find that you are doing something very important in Costa Rica:  Growing.