In the weeks leading up to my trip to the US, I scanned several news sites both left-leaning and right-leaning to better inform myself on the happenings in the country of my birth. The more I read, the more discouraged I felt.
The country appeared hopelessly divided, unable to even share the same table in a public setting. Leaders seemed more interested in personal gain and sowing division than in bringing people together. I was bombarded daily with reports of crime, violence, each side blaming the other, a Cain versus Abel setting awaited me.
And now, from the US, I read about Costa Rica. Climatic disasters, storms, floods and landslides. Daily homicides, largely fueled by cartels and gang members fighting for a piece of the lucrative and burgeoning drug trafficking trade. Bomb threats at the country’s main University. Leaders who don’t lead and a congress more interested in political confrontation than in working for solutions to the problems facing the country.
I am experiencing what I like to call the macro versus the micro perspectives. The macro– the great overview of daily events, focusing on what may be called the most newsworthy, which translates as those events most likely to draw in readers, and in many cases encourage the reader to take one side or the other. And the micro– the town or city where one resides, and immerses one’s self, seeing the same country and its people up close, interacting with others on a daily basis.
If you spend time scrolling through comments on X (Twitter) or Threads or Facebook reels, you would be getting a dose of the macro, and believe civil war is imminent. Then go to a fair or a festival and discover the opposite, that people of differing beliefs and ideologies can share the same spaces without things dissolving into a street fight.
Likewise, were I back in Costa Rica right now I would be walking in my barrio, or going to town or to the beach, where I have a much greater probability of enjoying myself than being caught in some kind of drug-fueled crossfire. And despite the fact that if you google “Costa Rica right now’’ you will get links to as much bad news as good, our reputation among USA residents is positive.
At my recent high school reunion I lost track of the number of people with questions about Costa Rica. I passed all of my business cards (from a business I no longer work for) with my cell phone number to ex-classmates interested in learning more and/or later visiting Costa Rica.
The problems of the world, and of my two home countries are not going away. There will continue to be infighting, ideological strife, crime and natural disasters. My own recipe for handling this is to emphasize the micro over the macro perspective. Do this and your life will be happier, less stressful, and more rewarding. Pura vida!
