Time in Costa Rica has brought me great hope thus far. For the past five years, I have attempted to envision the world in which I would like to live. In the U.S., I have found it quite difficult to find such places. In San Luis, I have found much of what is right with human communities and would like to share some thoughts that have been wandering through my mind while I’ve been here.

Well recently I have been obsessed with the idea of profit, and my time in Costa Rica has led to a continuation of this line of thought.

Profit, at its origin, is the ability for one person to sell something, typically a good or a service, at a higher price than the good or service cost the individual (monetary, time, et al). At its heart, profit arises from the ability to take advantage of those outside oneself – either the individuals that produce the good or service, or the source of the product (the environment, the community, etc.). In a just world, there would be no profit – people would be paid what their efforts are worth when a product is sold and externalities such as the environment and community health would no longer be novel considerations.

Well, obviously, the world is not a just place, and I find myself upon the path to make it a bit more just, even if only for a family or two. My soul keeps telling me that to do this, I need to begin with my own practice. I have been fortunate to have been dealt an advantageous hand of cards – I am white, I am from the U.S., I grew up in a middle to upper-middle class environment, I’ve been to college, I am male, and on and on and on. Again, these factors shouldn’t be as important as they are, but in the real world they give me many advantages: the ability to walk down the street at night without fear of being raped, the opportunity to make a substantial amount of money, access to information and comforts, and all of the rest.

Earlier in my life, when I failed to recognize these advantages, I profited from them and in turn profited on the backs of others. That may seem harsh, but it is the truth. The more money that accumulated in my bank account, the greater the exploitation that took place at my hands. In the U.S., we try to sugar coat this with terms such as growth, progress, and security as we distance ourselves from it by exploiting those in other parts of the world. The truth that we rarely see is this: we are also exploiting ourselves.

How? Consider that this past week I finished a hard day’s work that would have paid me $1 or $2 per hour if I were a Tico. I walked up the dirt path from the construction site to the main drag through my neighborhood in San Luis (a single lane dirt road). There I joined the flow of men returning from the local town of Santa Elena from a day at work. No horns, no exhaust fumes, no anger… simply the camaraderie of community. Halfway home, I stopped my “commute” to play football (soccer) with a few kids in what has become a daily ritual. Finally, I was met at the house with kisses and a dinner where most of the food comes from within a 5 mile radius.

Sure, there isn’t a computer in the house, or cable, or tiled floors, or AC. In the U.S., the house would be considered extremely poor. But what happens inside that structure makes the U.S. look like one of the poorest countries in the world. On any given night you might see the kids doing homework at the table without coercion, or playing jacks in the living room, or cuddling with their mother on the couch. And though there are three bedrooms in the house, all three children CHOOSE to sleep in their mother’s room, even the seventeen year old daughter. Surely, there are families like this in the United States, but they tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

We also exploit ourselves by attempting to obtain financial security. Financial security is a dangerous myth. How long must people continue to stumble through the present doing things that they hate or don’t enjoy when they have plenty to feed and protect their families? I understand that this is an individual choice, but it is a choice that affects the financially poor people of the U.S. and the rest of the world. The more that we make and store away for a “rainy day,” the more difficult we make it for others. I am not aware of any spirituality that condones such things. Oh yes, I remember… it’s called capitalism.

If the economy of the U.S. collapsed tomorrow, as it did in the past and most surely will do in the future, will the quest for financial security have been worth it? How many days are we willing to sacrifice for our myths.

For me, the answer is zero. During the last few years, I have received many comments about the way in which I live my life. Most of them have been positive, some have been somewhat critical, and there have been many people that do not understand why I live as I do or how I can live as I do.

I have tried to address each person individually as questions and comments have arisen. The truth is this: I am still trying to find the words to describe why I do what I do… work for a bit and move on, travel, volunteer, search for a life quite disparate from mainstream culture in the U.S., etc. The easy answer is that I am following my soul, and although that is sufficient for me it isn’t often adequate enough an answer for some. Likely, for those people, I will never be able to explain it in words, yet still I try.

I’m beginning to realize that my soul disagrees with the human-constructed concepts of profit and security. Like the bear I hope to fatten up only to last me through the slim months of the year for, just as it is with the bear, my security lies in my soul not in my bank account. Hopefully, this is a better explanation than I’ve been able to offer in the past. And I’m certain that it will become better as I continue to explore.

With much love,

Vaughan