The Jungles Of Costa Rica Are Echoing Sustainability & You Need To Hear It
For many years now, amazing sustainability news has been pouring out of Costa Rica..
The headlines endlessly relay Costa Rica’s impressive environmental record, the country’s triumphs with producing and storing renewable energy, and the festivals and events being hosted there to celebrate these successes and educate the curious and enthusiastic about what’s going on. That is why I couldn’t pass up on the chance to spend 5 weeks there this past winter, and I must say, me encanta. That said, I’m going back for two important reasons... For those of you who don’t know, the Valhalla Movement Foundation is a grassroots organization with the mission to proliferate Freedom Culture: to empower and encourage all individuals to spread their unique gifts to the world. We are a growing tribe of storytellers, media specialists, activists, and professionals from various disciplines who believe the best way to breed Freedom Culture is through empowering the sustainable communal lifestyle and promoting the spread of knowledge through action. Our combined efforts have culminated over the last few years in the construction of the Sustainability Learning Centre. Utilizing our own original sustainable building designs that we created at WISDOM, we are building an eco village 20 minutes away from downtown Montreal, but we have a vision to spread these ideas well beyond one city. Over the last few months many amazing things have been unfolding around the Valhalla Movement, but none more relevant than the current announcement of the birth of Valhalla Costa Rica. The reason we are reproducing our operations in Costa Rica is simple: Costa Rica is a beacon for sustainable development and when the winter months halt the Montreal growing season, it’s an amazing opportunity for our tribe to continue our permaculture, eco construction, and community building efforts year round. We started this winter by hosting a Superhero Bootcamp on Carara Mountain to train the next generation of entrepreneurial world-changers, and we’ll be back at it this February. A story is best told not by those who have created it, but by those who have heard it and are inspired to carry it forward — to make it echo into the ears and minds of many throughout time. Thus you can imagine that when I was staying at the absolutely lovely, fully sustainable wellness retreat centre at Puerta A La Vida, and I was told a story about an amazing gathering coming up in July, I was in. There is no gathering better suited to amplify our collective voice in Costa Rica than ECHO. ECHO is a 72 hour gathering in Costa Rica that brings together 150 amazing people from around the world who are making a difference in the planet to lead revolutionary workshops and life-changing conversations. Radical Sustainability. Radical Diversity. NO Technology. Not only will I be attending ECHO, I will also lead a workshop on storytelling to help spark the movements our world desperately needs. Although storytelling might seem like a passive act, its power is immeasurable — a story can spark imagination and ignite passion in people to mobilize and turn ideas into tangible actions. Our world doesn’t need another armchair activist or loud-voiced protester; it needs more people taking action to make a difference in the world. Years ago I was stuck in the hopeless loop of “being too small to change the world.” I would say things like “my vote doesn’t count” or “the status quo won’t ever change — it needs to be torn down before anything happens....“ Nowadays I focus less on tearing things down and more on constructing the new paradigm. Change won’t happen unless WE propose, create, and prove a better alternative. If you believe your park should be filled with gardens and fruit trees like I do, why not plant them yourself? If you want better schools and hospitals — why not support growing alternative schools or build one? I know these ideals may seem like a stretch. I have battled all of the same doubts you are feeling now, but then I realized all it takes to turn dreams into reality is the will to do so. Freedom Culture is the beginning of the world we need to build and it starts with YOU. And I’m not alone in thinking this way. ECHO is full of speakers and leaders who have honed in on these and other great strategies to turn their visions of a better world into reality through tangible, realistic actions. So why not apply to join us at ECHO this Summer and begin your journey to building your dream life and supporting the health of the planet we all love? .
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