Epicycle 1
Week 1
March 31st, 2014
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 1: Exploring the Unknown
This week was our trip to the k’iche’ community of Pasac that hosts about 1500 people in Nahualá, Sololá. Each of us stayed with a family of the community and got the opportunity to interact and learn with them. It was a great experience to do this, to learn from them and the differences of how they live with how we live, and also realizing that we are not that different after all.
Before going to this community, I was a little skeptical and risk averse, especially with our safety (I know my perception of them was mostly made of prejudices and stereotypes but I just wanted to take precautions since it was a different culture from ours). It turned out to be very different from what imagined and it was that it was like that. I learned some valuable lessons from this trip and my plan is to write about them during this week’s daily reflections.
My first lesson learned is exploring the unknown. I learned this as a general lesson from the trip, starting from going to Pasac and encountering everything with a positive attitude and being open to have new experiences like swimming in a cold river or eating Pasac’s finest French fries from a street. This opens new possibilities and opportunities to enjoy life and learn. Staying in your comfort zone and sticking to routine makes your life more static, you slow down your learning curve as human being, and usually get bored with your life. Dare to have adventures and explore the unfamiliar.
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 1: Exploring the Unknown
This week was our trip to the k’iche’ community of Pasac that hosts about 1500 people in Nahualá, Sololá. Each of us stayed with a family of the community and got the opportunity to interact and learn with them. It was a great experience to do this, to learn from them and the differences of how they live with how we live, and also realizing that we are not that different after all.
Before going to this community, I was a little skeptical and risk averse, especially with our safety (I know my perception of them was mostly made of prejudices and stereotypes but I just wanted to take precautions since it was a different culture from ours). It turned out to be very different from what imagined and it was that it was like that. I learned some valuable lessons from this trip and my plan is to write about them during this week’s daily reflections.
My first lesson learned is exploring the unknown. I learned this as a general lesson from the trip, starting from going to Pasac and encountering everything with a positive attitude and being open to have new experiences like swimming in a cold river or eating Pasac’s finest French fries from a street. This opens new possibilities and opportunities to enjoy life and learn. Staying in your comfort zone and sticking to routine makes your life more static, you slow down your learning curve as human being, and usually get bored with your life. Dare to have adventures and explore the unfamiliar.
April 1st, 2014
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 2: Open-Mindedness and Acceptance of Other People’s Reality
I believe our nature is to think that our perception of reality, the way we see the world, is the best one and you get discouraged and sometimes angry and frustrated when others don’t adopt this way. We tend to judge the ones that act differently from what we value and don’t have empathy toward others’ preferences in the way they want to live their life.
I went to Pasac thinking that the way people lived there make them unhappy in a lot of aspects I value like having a good access to water, electricity, internet, and other goods and services. But when we got there and started interacting with them and especially with my family, I felt their joy and happiness and actually didn’t care much about the problems I thought were most present in their life. Accepting the way they live their life and having empathy to the way they see the world, opened my perspective of how I see the world.
Maybe my perspective won’t be the best all the time. Maybe it will be sometimes, but one must remain open to that exploration and to knowing other’s way of seeing the world. Even life becomes more fluid and joyous when you are able to understand how and why people act the way they do. It allows an easier interaction and connection with others, opening possibilities of learning and creation.
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 2: Open-Mindedness and Acceptance of Other People’s Reality
I believe our nature is to think that our perception of reality, the way we see the world, is the best one and you get discouraged and sometimes angry and frustrated when others don’t adopt this way. We tend to judge the ones that act differently from what we value and don’t have empathy toward others’ preferences in the way they want to live their life.
I went to Pasac thinking that the way people lived there make them unhappy in a lot of aspects I value like having a good access to water, electricity, internet, and other goods and services. But when we got there and started interacting with them and especially with my family, I felt their joy and happiness and actually didn’t care much about the problems I thought were most present in their life. Accepting the way they live their life and having empathy to the way they see the world, opened my perspective of how I see the world.
Maybe my perspective won’t be the best all the time. Maybe it will be sometimes, but one must remain open to that exploration and to knowing other’s way of seeing the world. Even life becomes more fluid and joyous when you are able to understand how and why people act the way they do. It allows an easier interaction and connection with others, opening possibilities of learning and creation.
April 2nd, 2014
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 3: Enjoying the Minutia of Life
"Human felicity is produc'd not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day."
- Benjamin Franklin
Being in a place surrounded by nature like in Pasac, you start noticing more things. Having less contact with technology makes you more aware of your surroundings and you tend to appreciate more of it. Seeing a sunrise and breathing the fresh and cold air of the morning, walking down the river and noticing the small rocks, plants, and bugs, hearing the birds sing early in the morning and late in the afternoon, playing a soccer match with your peers and the kids from the community, eating French fries from a small local in one of Pasac’s streets and sitting and chatting, drinking Coca-Cola in plastic cups, eating a just-made corn tortilla made from scratch.
It’s amazing how much you can enjoy all of these things. Trivial as them may seem they conform a great part of our life and not enjoying them seems irrational. Yet, every day passes and events like this go by and by and we seldom appreciate them. It’s true that scarcity plays an important role and because we are used to having lots of these small events we tend to not fully appreciate them, but if we change our mindset and become more aware of the minutia of life, life would be more joyous and happier.
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 3: Enjoying the Minutia of Life
"Human felicity is produc'd not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day."
- Benjamin Franklin
Being in a place surrounded by nature like in Pasac, you start noticing more things. Having less contact with technology makes you more aware of your surroundings and you tend to appreciate more of it. Seeing a sunrise and breathing the fresh and cold air of the morning, walking down the river and noticing the small rocks, plants, and bugs, hearing the birds sing early in the morning and late in the afternoon, playing a soccer match with your peers and the kids from the community, eating French fries from a small local in one of Pasac’s streets and sitting and chatting, drinking Coca-Cola in plastic cups, eating a just-made corn tortilla made from scratch.
It’s amazing how much you can enjoy all of these things. Trivial as them may seem they conform a great part of our life and not enjoying them seems irrational. Yet, every day passes and events like this go by and by and we seldom appreciate them. It’s true that scarcity plays an important role and because we are used to having lots of these small events we tend to not fully appreciate them, but if we change our mindset and become more aware of the minutia of life, life would be more joyous and happier.
April 3rd, 2014
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 4: Adopting a New Lifestyle
We are accustomed and comfortable living the way we want to live, having a particular lifestyle and routine. But when this is challenged, it’s easy to find discomfort and not enjoy our experiences. Being in Pasac challenged me in many ways, starting from having a private space for myself. In Pasac, we lived with the families and used their facilities and that included taking almost ice-cold showers in the morning. The first two times I took a shower it went breathless. I had similar experiences with the bathroom and sink and I have to admit that I’m a little obsessed with hygiene so you can imagine the challenge it represented for me. I realized that once you accept the conditions you can’t change, everything becomes easier to process. Plus, you get out of your comfort zone and learn from these experiences.
It happens with the rest of the areas in life when you enter a different community from yours. The food you eat, the activities you do, the time when you wake up and sleep, the interactions with others; all of that change. When you travel and meet other culture, adopting their customs and, in general, their lifestyle presents you an opportunity of growth and learning, and you get to know yourself a little better. It also makes you acquire new skills like learning k’iche’ and knowing more about the Mayan astrology and its nahuales. You become a richer human being and learn more about the world and the people that inhabits it.
OK
Lessons from Pasac, Nahualá
Part 4: Adopting a New Lifestyle
We are accustomed and comfortable living the way we want to live, having a particular lifestyle and routine. But when this is challenged, it’s easy to find discomfort and not enjoy our experiences. Being in Pasac challenged me in many ways, starting from having a private space for myself. In Pasac, we lived with the families and used their facilities and that included taking almost ice-cold showers in the morning. The first two times I took a shower it went breathless. I had similar experiences with the bathroom and sink and I have to admit that I’m a little obsessed with hygiene so you can imagine the challenge it represented for me. I realized that once you accept the conditions you can’t change, everything becomes easier to process. Plus, you get out of your comfort zone and learn from these experiences.
It happens with the rest of the areas in life when you enter a different community from yours. The food you eat, the activities you do, the time when you wake up and sleep, the interactions with others; all of that change. When you travel and meet other culture, adopting their customs and, in general, their lifestyle presents you an opportunity of growth and learning, and you get to know yourself a little better. It also makes you acquire new skills like learning k’iche’ and knowing more about the Mayan astrology and its nahuales. You become a richer human being and learn more about the world and the people that inhabits it.
Week 2
Week 3
April 21st, 2014
The Future as we know it don’t exist
“The future is an ongoing process that reflects the plenitude of human life.”
- Virginia Postrel, The Future and Its Enemies
When we think of the future, we tend to think that it’s this one scenario where we accomplish all of our goals and are happily ever after. It could be that way for sure, but to accomplish what we want we must first understand the nature of the future (if it has one). In our first true approach to The Future and Its Enemies by Virginia Postrel, we read and discuss part of the introduction where she explains what the future is and the spectrum of the positions we have of seeing it (and I say true approach because I had a seminar with Bert some years ago but didn’t engage in the material, which was this book, so I’m not counting this one). This spectrum goes from dynamism to stasism. Dynamism, says Postrel, is marked by constant change, creativity, and exploration in the pursuit of progress, while stasism is where progress is controlled by careful and cautions planning. Dynamists welcome change and think of the universe as dynamic and see the best ways we can learn from it and adapt.
The future is something alive, organic, and ever evolving and if we understand that there’s no future in the whole sense, but “many microfutures and its associations” and that “actions shape a future no one can see, a future that is dynamic and inherently stable”, maybe we would be able to learn the best ways to interact and accomplish our goals. Embracing change and welcoming dynamism into our life allows us to remain open to growth possibilities and areas of improvement, whereas if we decide to close up and try to control everything that happens to us, we may end achieving nothing but frustration.
The Future as we know it don’t exist
“The future is an ongoing process that reflects the plenitude of human life.”
- Virginia Postrel, The Future and Its Enemies
When we think of the future, we tend to think that it’s this one scenario where we accomplish all of our goals and are happily ever after. It could be that way for sure, but to accomplish what we want we must first understand the nature of the future (if it has one). In our first true approach to The Future and Its Enemies by Virginia Postrel, we read and discuss part of the introduction where she explains what the future is and the spectrum of the positions we have of seeing it (and I say true approach because I had a seminar with Bert some years ago but didn’t engage in the material, which was this book, so I’m not counting this one). This spectrum goes from dynamism to stasism. Dynamism, says Postrel, is marked by constant change, creativity, and exploration in the pursuit of progress, while stasism is where progress is controlled by careful and cautions planning. Dynamists welcome change and think of the universe as dynamic and see the best ways we can learn from it and adapt.
The future is something alive, organic, and ever evolving and if we understand that there’s no future in the whole sense, but “many microfutures and its associations” and that “actions shape a future no one can see, a future that is dynamic and inherently stable”, maybe we would be able to learn the best ways to interact and accomplish our goals. Embracing change and welcoming dynamism into our life allows us to remain open to growth possibilities and areas of improvement, whereas if we decide to close up and try to control everything that happens to us, we may end achieving nothing but frustration.