Happy Secrets From Around the World

I never thought I’d return to Costa Rica alone so many times, but I did because of my husband. You see, Costa Rica routinely appears on ‘happiest countries’ lists because people living there have a strong sense of community and family, spend lots of time outdoors and eat a fresh and varied diet. They even have an unofficial slogan, ‘pura vida’, which means ‘pure life’.

After I lost my otherwise healthy husband two months after his diagnosis of stage four kidney cancer, I needed pura vida – the idea that you should embrace, live and enjoy each day, just as you are. In Costa Rica, in my grief, I felt a realness, a solidity, an understanding – maybe an acceptance – of the good and bad parts of life that I didn’t feel when I was at home. Something in me started to shift. I