Independence Day

The two most patriotic days in any Costa Ricans' life - and I believe that in the life of many Central Americans too, and dunno if it really extrends to any South American country - is September 14th and September 15th. As you already know, yesterday was out Lantern Day, for lack of a better day, and today is our Independence Day. Our Anthem is sang passionatelly here and there, in accordance to the civic program (though mostly the 14th at 6 pm, up to the point that I've seen people at class or at work make a pause to put their right hands to their hearts or stand straight and sing it). School and highschool students march on the streets with lanters and school bands on the 14th, and then with flags and battoons on the 15th. And the school band, of course.

Something you should know about Costa Rica's independence is that though there were many citizens - mainly creols, which means Spanish descendants born in here - who wanted our Independence, there was also people who was rather comfortable living like a Spanish colony. So when the news of the Independencs arrived, our politicians (for lack of a better term, I know we call them "cabildo" in Spanish, but have no idea what would be the name in English and today my Internet connection is slow and I don't want to go looking for the translation) saved the message for themselves while they deliberated what to do. The message they sent back was basically that "we will wait until the sky is clear". In other words: Costa Rica planned to wait with the declaration until things settled, the air cleared out and we knew where we stood. It is said that this sentence marked the temper of Costa Ricans, who procrastinate with everything, and wait for the last moment, often to make sure there are no changes.

There were three groups when debating this decision. One wanted to pledge alliance to Spain and reject the Independence, another wanted to take the Independence and become part of Mexico (if you know where Mexico and Costa Rica are, you might be thinking now: wait what? And what about all the countries in between? When I was little and learning about this I asked myself that question and wondered if Costa Rica was going to grab the country and switch it with Guatemala or was planning to dig out the land and ship it and become an appendage of Mexico. Back then it also bothered me that given the form of Costa Rica, where would it fit). A third party wanted absolute independence, and start anew with a country and a government of our own.

Again we can find mirrors in countries about personal choices and behavior. In everybody's life there comes the time when you are given the chance to be independent. Sometimes it comes many times. You become legally an adult, or you get out of a job -  fired or resigned, that's not interesting now - or you get out a relationship, abandon your old religion, step out of an old club, you name it. The situation you've left might have made you feel tied down, or might have made you happy and feel without worry, and when it ends - either because you broke out of it, or because it was ended on you, or you've outgrown it, and you felt it in yourself that this isn't working as it used to be - we can often feel indecision before the same three paths Costa Rica had: you can reject the "independence" and strike a new alliance with your old relationship, or job or club, or move away from it by jumping into another relationship/job/club, or taking the third road: going solo.

Which is the best solution? Well, wait until the sky clears out, give yourself time to think, because all options have their own set of good and bad. I personally don't believe in relationship that can be mended, but some people do and they do can mend things, so if you are considering breaking up or divorcing, maybe a better solution could be to think about it, sit down and talk about the matter. Maybe you rather break out because there's also someone from the office or the gym you'd really feel the chemisty hitting the fan and why not give it a chance? Or maybe what you really want and really need is time for yourself, time to find out who you are aside from the other person's significant other.

Independence is a fabulous thing that grows from within. Now, unlike in the case of contries, working at a company or being in arelationship doesn't mean that you are less independent, but it does mean that you have chosen to accomodate your independency and compromise to a certain level to make things work. This work as long as you feel that the commitments you take fit within your sense of independence. I certainly don't like to wake up at 4:30 am to go to work, and though my job consumes 48 hours of my week - plus the time driving or commuting - it still fits in my independence feeling, as the money I make ensures my independence otherwiese, AND the job I do allows me to grow within the career I have chosen for myself. It fits in my independence. But if I had to work the same 48 hours, driving the same time, to a place where I did a job I hate, it wouldn't matter the money - in my case - it would go agains my feeling of independence, and I would seek to be free from it.

It's okay to take our own time, and whatever path we choose, we should make sure we choose it by our own, and not to please others. Only then we keep our sense of independence and we feed our happiness.