SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA: NIETZSCHE’S DEMONS

I want to write down everything I know about being afraid, but I’d probably never have enough time to write anything else. Afraid is a country where they issue us passports at birth and hope we never seek citizenship in any other country. The face of afraid keeps changing constantly, and I can count on that change. I need to travel light and fast, and there’s a lot of baggage I’m going to have to leave behind me. Jettison cargo. ~Audre Lorde

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What if some day or night a demon were to steal into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: “This life as you now live and have lived it you will have to live once again and innumerable times again; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy and every thought and sigh and everything unspeakably small or great in your life must return to you, all in the same succession and sequence — even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself…” ~Nietzsche

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a friendly platanito seller in the park. the kind of smile you welcome in the mornings.

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buying flowers
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eye contact

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Nietzsche’s demon, after all, comes to us when we are all alone, his question can be heard only in one’s “loneliest loneliness,” and therefore the answer cannot be given by consensus or on behalf of some impersonal institutions. It is, indeed, the most personal of answers — the one that always determines an individual choice. Of course you can choose anything you want, to raise children or get married, but don’t pretend to do it because these things have some sort of intrinsic value — they don’t. Do it solely because you chose them and are willing to own up to them. In the story of our lives, these choices are ours and ours alone, and this is what gives things, all things, value. Only when one realizes this is he or she prepared to face the eternal recurrence, the entire cycle, without the risk of being crushed. Only then is one able to say with Yeats, “[A]nd yet again,” and truly mean it. ~John J. Kaag

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a beautiful stranger walking by as i was taking pics of this mural in progress by gabriel dumani and hein. she stopped, smiled, posed, and then walked on without uttering a word. 

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i’d like to help this couple out, but i can’t be trusted with homemade liquor that i know nothing about.
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purple jeans made my day.

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street vendor leaning against his kiosk
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that mustache makes me uncomfortable. i’m sure he’s a nice guy, but…

 

Perhaps the hardest part of the eternal return is to own up to the tortures that we create for ourselves and those we create for others. Owning up: to recollect, to regret, to be responsible, ultimately to forgive and love. ~Kaag

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ticos like their subway sandwiches.

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every day is training day and don’t you forget it. 

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a tico walking by a crowd of tourists taking pictures of pigeons. 

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There is no insurmountable solitude. All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance and sing our sorrowful song — but in this dance or in this song there are fulfilled the most ancient rites of our conscience in the awareness of being human and of believing in a common destiny. ~Pablo Neruda

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this guy is selling avocados illegally. i wouldn’t have known that had he not frantically blown past me with his avocado crate when two cops pulled up at the light. this pic was taken once he returned to his spot and the cops were out of sight. looking right at me. his eyes kinda saying “yeah, this is illegal. so what. buy some.”

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april 2019. San Jose, Costa Rica.

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA GRAFFITI: NEUR Pt. 1

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THERE ARE SO MANY PROLIFIC GRAFFITI WRITERS IN SAN JOSE; THEIR PIECES ARE EVERYWHERE! HERE ARE 10 PIECES FROM NEUR. TO SEE MORE OF THIS ARTIST’S WORK: https://www.instagram.com/n32lt/
feb-apr2019. san jose, costa rica. 

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA GRAFFITI: DUNK Pt. 1

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There are so many prolific graffiti writers in San Jose; their pieces are everywhere! Here are 10 pieces from DUNK. To see more of this artist’s work: https://www.instagram.com/_dunkest/

feb-apr2019. san jose, costa rica. 

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA: UNDERNEATH THE INSANE ASYLUM (21 Pilots, Pt. 4)

THE SOUNDTRACK TO MY THREE MONTHS OF LIVING IN COSTA RICA HAS BEEN ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY, THE 4 TWENTY ONE PILOTS’ ALBUMS: SELF-TITLED, VESSEL, BLURRYFACE, AND TRENCH. THIS UPCOMING 4-PART PHOTO SERIES WILL FEATURE CAPTIONS WITH THEIR LYRICS DESCRIBING AN EVEN DEEPER CONTEXTUALIZATION OF MY OVERALL PURE VIDA EXPERIENCE.

as it’s the fourth and final part of this series, i should probably mention that every photo in the entire series was shot from the hip. i never raised my camera to my eye. so, i never really knew what i was capturing until i got back to my room and went through them. 

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i can’t believe how much i hate. pressures of a new place roll my way. 
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no, we are not just graffiti on a passing train.
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this culture is a poacher of overexposure.
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i’ll morph to someone else. i’m just a ghost.
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hide you in my coat pocket, where i kept my rebel red. i felt i was invincible, you wrapped around my head.
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i’ve always been collected, calm, and chill. 
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i want you to follow me down to the bottom. underneath the insane asylum.
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sometimes i feel cold, even paralyzed. my interior world needs to sanitize.
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nice to know my kind will be on my side. i don’t believe the hype. and you know you’re a terrible sight. 
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i’m lighter when i’m lower. i’m higher when i’m heavy. 
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in city, i feel my spirit is contained
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i move slow, i want to stop time. 
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i’m sorry i did not visit. did not know how to take it. when your eyes did not know me. 
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i needed change of pace. couldn’t take the pace of change. 
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you’re loving on the psychopath sitting next to you. 
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you’re loving on the freakshow sitting next to you. 

apr19. San Jose, Costa Rica.

HEREDIA, COSTA RICA: CITY OF FLOWERS

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Heredia is one of Costa Rica’s most historical cities. It was founded in 1705. Its nickname is “City of Flowers.”

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El Fortin, what’s left of an old Spanish fort.

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Cultural center, Escuela República de Argentina.

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Old Post Office.

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Monument to Volunteers: pays respect to those who served in the volunteerism movement of the 1860’s with the founding of The Red Cross and other organizations. 

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Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción. Standing since 1797.

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Old Colonial architecture.

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20apr19. San Jose, Costa Rica.

ALAJUELA, COSTA RICA 🇨🇷: DESEO DE LIBERTAD

Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral ~ Catedral de Nuestra Señora del Pilar ~ also called Alajuela Cathedral

General Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez (December 16, 1831 – July 6, 1882) was President of Costa Rica on two occasions: from 1870 to 1876, and from 1877 to 1882.

13apr19 San Jose Costa Rica 🇨🇷

SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA 🇨🇷: RIDE

I just wanna stay in the sun where I find
I know it’s hard sometimes
Pieces of peace in the sun’s peace of mind
I know it’s hard sometimes
Yeah, I think about the end just way too much
But it’s fun to fantasize
All my enemies who wouldn’t wish who I was
But it’s fun to fantasize

Oh, oh
I’m falling so I’m taking my time on my ride
Oh, I’m falling so I’m taking my time on my ride
Taking my time on my ride

6apr19. San Jose, Costa Rica 🇨🇷