Pura vida, pure life in Spanish, is a mindset, a way of living, a goal, an experience, something to create, something to share. Pura vida came to life for me and my husband on our honeymoon in Costa Rica where we first heard the phrase. Pura vida was a greeting, the answer to “how are you,” a toast, a beginning and an end to each day and we reveled in it. Costa Rica, all the people we met there, the volcano and cloud forest we explored, the hiking we did, the surfing we tried, the nature we immersed ourselves in was all eye opening to what pura vida feels like. All our senses were heightened to the sights, smells, sounds, and lifestyle around us. We tried new things from food to language to exercise, challenged ourselves in our surroundings, and felt rewarded in what we learned and contributed to where we had been. The pura vida mindset that we embraced in Costa Rica is one that we hoped to hold onto back in the “real world.” Continue reading →