Try this the next time you are stuck inside your head, battling waves of self-doubt or consumed by ego struggles. Leap from your chair, assume the most ridiculous power pose you can think of, and shout to the heavens:
Más agil que una tortuga, más fuerte que un ratón, más noble que una lechuga, mi escudo es un corazón!
(Yes, I know it’s actually “su escudo,” his shield or his coat of arms, but we’re taking on the character, people. In English it’s “More agile than a turtle, stronger than a mouse, more noble than a head of lettuce and my shield is a heart!” It doesn’t quite work as well in English, but I think shouting “More noble than a lettuce!” will pretty much get you there.)
I’ve written a lot about what makes Latin America, and Costa Rica in particular, such a happy place despite so many challenges. I’ve hypothesized that it’s the mindset. But maybe it’s just the Chapulín Colorado, the Mexican non-superhero-superhero played to perfection by the beloved comic El Chespirito, or Roberto Gómez Bolaños. El Chapulín Colorado is known for his bright yellow underpants and the underwhelming descriptors listed above. When this is your Superman, how can you help but laugh your way through life? I mean, look at him!
I started a major undertaking this month: NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, when insane, overly caffeinated writers all over the planet attempt to write 50,000 words towards their current book projects in 30 days. Both times I’ve attempted this in the past, I’ve given up by day three or four after deciding that all my ideas are ridiculous (a tendency I am mitigating this time by shuffling between two projects instead of one, so that I can turn tail yet still keep writing!). It is a process that inevitably gets you stuck in your head. So today, all weekend and all month, my challenge to myself is to leap from my chair whenever this happens, stand with arms akimbo and chest puffed out, and declare myself “Más noble que una lechuga!”
Because truly, laughing at yourself is half the battle.
Here are the posts from this weekend for my weekend readers out there!
Monday Motivation: Inspiring words from Isak Dinesen
Tuesday Beauty: Welcoming the reading season
Wellness Wednesday: An ode to farmers markets
Thursday Explorations: Latin America’s scary stories
Have a great weekend, and eat a bite-sized leftover Halloween candy in my honor!
I’m a writer in San José, Costa Rica, on a year-long quest to share daily posts on inspiring people, places and ideas from my adopted home as a kind of tonic during a rough time in the world. Sign up (top right of this page) to receive a little dose of inspiration every weekday in your mailbox; tell a friend; check out past posts; and please connect with me on Instagram or Facebook! You can also find me churning out small, square poems on any topic under the sun (here on the site, on Instagram or Twitter).
katherine stanley obando 