The last time I wrote a blog post, I was in Telluride, Colorado doing some soul searching. The kind of searching where I search deep. Who am I? Whom do I want to become? Where do I want to go now? Those questions always follow me, chasing the mediocrity of daily life by there very presence.
After a whirl wind month spent in Las Vegas, working on a job for a PR client, I boarded a flight to Guatemala City. I had randomly booked my ticket in February from my bestie Beau’s Las Vegas couch. I told him that I didn’t really know why I was going there but that it seemed right. Less than a month later, I was dropped at the airport for my red-eye flight with no plans and no agenda.
Before I left, one of my dear friends connected me to one of her friends living in Guatemala City. Aaron is a California born ex-pat living out his dreams in Latin America. Upon my arrival in Guatemala City, I phoned him and met his girlfriend Corina and him. From the very first meeting, I knew that they were part of my tribe. Kindreds if you will. Both trying to make a difference in the world in some very profound ways. One thing led to another and suddenly and unexpectedly, I find myself in a tiny seaside village called Monterrico, the Pacific Ocean right outside my doorsteps.
I was offered the use of a gorgeous villa complete with a pool and the use of a 4 wheeler in exchange for volunteer teaching English within the local community. This community has been largely ignored by the Guatemalan government. There are no NGO’s working here. There is very little tourism. This has been been the biggest challenge I have undertaken, being here and teaching English. I crash course learned online the basics of teaching through various sites and just like that, I have students, both private at the house and daily at the school. In between teaching, I work on my various companies.
This is my dream. To affect an entire community in a small way. I drive the 4-wheeler along the beach every day to the village, kids yelling “Hello Lara! I am good” as I pass them. My students at the school are genuinely excited when I walk into the classroom every day. They are a treasure. With no textbooks, no electricity in the school, and very little teaching materials available, they are eager to learn. I wake up daily moved to tears by where I have landed, by the generosity of others, by committing myself to something bigger than myself
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| The classroom |
That’s the thing about life, when you are presented with opportunities, you must take them. You never end up where you are not supposed to be. I have learned to listen to the voice inside me that tells me that there is nothing to fear. That I can do anything I want and do it well. That there are limitless possibilities out there, just waiting for me and we to grab hold of and do. I don’t know what I did to deserve this. I don’t know how long I will be here, but I am happy where I am today and right now. I am helping people and doing it with no expectations, and I am still being productive with my work back in the states.
It really is all possible for me and I am not going to waste a minute of this wonderful life that I have created. I am delving deep into the solitude, working on the why of why I do some of the horrible things I do, recognizing the reasons for all of the amazing things I do and living each moment within the knowledge that we are all universally bound. I am not perfect, I have made some pretty big mistakes in my life and I continue to make them. Perhaps through living my life in part with service to others, I can atone for them, perhaps not. But that's the thing about life, you can only do the very best you know how. And I will.
I am happy, I am ecstatic, I am blessed, I am complete.
Peace, love, and joy
Lara
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