Summer Journal Entry

Creative: 

Creative. An 8-letter word that makes you think a lot, in my case this vacation had me thinking a lot about what I could do. I thought about art, but art is everything. There is art in nature, in everything that surrounds us, there is art. Art is like words, words that come from the heart. Those that become poetry and permeate the soul. That kind of creative state of mind where you put your thoughts and emotions into words. Creative writing is what I did over this summer. I wrote some personal poems. I wrote poems that are completely honest and broad. I wrote some poems that come from the bottom of my heart, some of them are very painful to read. But that’s the reality I live in. I decided to write some songs for the first time. People close to me who have read what I use to write, believe that I have a very good way to express what I feel with music and words. So I gave it a try, taught myself to play a new instrument by watching youtube beginner tutorials. I’m not the best at playing guitar but I got the hang of it. When my brother used to be with me everyday before getting married, I would take advantage of his time in order for him to teach me how to play guitar. Another way I learned is through last year’s music class, in which the music teacher was very patient and taught me how to place my fingers on the fret. I focused myself on learning the basics of an acoustic guitar. With this being said I inspire myself to write more. I wanted to write my own song but I wasn’t sure how to. I realized that once I started writing the lyrics of the song with some basic chords and using a specific technique like arpeggio, there and I realized that there was a lot of personal experience through it. I knew this is my way to heal some of the pain, it’s my way to express myself and hide the other side of me that no one really knows but myself, I composed 2 songs and maybe one day I will be willing to share it with the world.

Active:

 During my summer vacation, I was very active at the gym. I planned to have a better healthy life in order to start IB. I’ve had the pleasure to meet new people that encourage me to become a stronger and disciplined person. I have been active not only in the gym, but I recently started working to become a little bit independent without having to depend a lot on my parents. I like my job very much, it is quite simple but very important. I work in a dance academy and luckily I was able to dance contemporary. While I was dancing contemporary I remembered some words that stuck in my mind, “no one judges you, be free and dance to the music. Let go”. Letting go is something we can’t always achieve no matter how hard we try to let go. There is always something that prevents us from letting go, but I found out that ourselves is what holds us back from being happy. Although music makes it all better.  During my physical path, a lot of things changed. I lost weight, my clothes no longer fit, it’s very hard to know what to wear without feeling insecure that I might still be “fat”. That was my mentality a few months ago. Personally, it’s very difficult to have self-love because of the society I live in, and yes, it’s hard. During my process, I started to mellow out and see things differently.I realized that all bodies change. Whether for better or for worse, I know I’m trying to be healthy and I like it because I’m taking care of myself. I take a little time for myself. I dedicate myself to loving myself no matter what little imperfections my body has. I know that if I go to the gym I do it for myself and not because of what other people think. I also don’t let negative comments define who I am or how I look. The old me from before would never say words like this, she would settle for what people say or think. I decided to fill myself with good vibes and nice people who care about me.

Service: 

This year my summer vacation basically focused a lot on service. I cleaned up trash in Tamarindo since I was not only doing it for commitment but a requirement of my student scholarship is to do community volunteer hours to maintain a good standing of my scholarship of my own. I cleaned the area and took out stickers that were blocking important signs like “prohibido el parqueo” in Tamarindo. Daniel and I did this two days a week for 3 hours and 30 minutes for two months. We were also part of cleaning trash cans because it gives the public a space in which they are not uncomfortable with the smell and the animals that come through the scene. We learned how to change bags in a very effective way. I learned how to slip them even with a note. Just so the bag won’t break. We got paid for it. Meaning it was part of social service but as well it was a job.  I collaborated in a clean up with the youth at Cepia which was very fun as there were several kids I already knew and they made it all very nice. We cleaned up the community in Huacas as people have been disposing of a lot of garbage lately. I picked up trash with some of my buddies, Jojo, Keylor and Geyra in the community of Brasilito and we enjoyed the beautiful sunset as well. I helped collect clothes for a mother who had given birth and didn’t have all she needed because she doesn’t have a stable job and due to her pregnancy she had to leave it for a while, so I helped babysit the baby while she was hospitalized and on disability. I fell in love with the baby. 

Overall Reflection:

 In conclusion, my vacation was probably not the most impressive but it was the most extraordinary. I met new people, helped the environment, had the opportunity to see some friends, and enjoyed Mother’s Day with my mom and grandmother. During my vacation I excelled in being a person who identified her strengths and strengthened them in aspects of growth, who saw conflicts and dealt with them in the best possible way, who recognized life’s decisions and took action trying to change a little bit the trajectory of what’s wrong and changed it to something that was right. Who found meaning in every little detail by being reflective, open-minded and caring and appreciating every little encounter I had with myself and with the people around me. I had the pleasure of seeing such a precious baby girl come to life. I was able to rest but most of all I was able to see the kindness of people, the loyalty of animals and love shining through every moment.  

I had the opportunity to meet an old couple in love sitting on the seashore. And it made me think about my life. It made me think that sometimes negativity can bring you down, it can destroy you but happiness brings feelings of joy and not sadness, that when I grow up I want to be my sister’s smile, my grandmother’s warm embrace, Gaby’s kindness, my dad’s protection, my brother’s trust, I want to be my mom’s happiness, and my best friend’s laughter. But above all I want to love and live like I’m young, the same way like that couple in love that I met the other day by the seashore.