Memoirs or a Massuer – December 2016

I am not a musician but if I was I would write a song about Manuel Antonio. My song would have community and fun as the refrain with lots of poetic verses of laughter and friendship and health. The base line would be gnarly yet bright, it would clearly make everyone want to get up and dance for joy. A positive base, picks up your feet while kissing your face. My Manuel Antonio song would have four beautiful back up singers, two male, two female. They would sound similar to Bob Marley’s backup singers the I threes, Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, and Marcia Griffiths. Their buttery doo wap’s would transport listeners into a comfortable make believe spot on the beach, with an ocean breeze caressing their face. The lead singer would make us feel at home. Not just lyrically, but we would be vibrant and glowing and ready for just about anything. My Manuel Antonio song would feel like the right amount of vacation days and that post massage body high. Everyone would listen to it and have the same reaction….play it again and this round is on me!!!

Back to reality now, outside of my rock star fantasy song in the above paragraph. Every year I spend September and October on the shore of Lake Erie straddled between Buffalo, N.Y. and Toronto, Canada. I am surrounded not by family (they have moved away) but by old friends. Elementary and middle school friends that are irreplaceable and know me to the core. My days are spent massaging old clients and watching autumn descend upon Western N.Y. and Ontario. Gradually the weeks unravel and my desire to return to Manuel Antonio increases. I seem to inherit the energy of the busyness around me. Although I have relatively few worries (good health, a roof over over my head, food, work in the future) I begin to feel anxious. I find it extremely curious that year after year it happens. I conceptualize this to be energy from my current environment and the people I am surrounded by. Everyone I engage with, friend or client, are in this constant state of struggle with time. They are juggling careers, families, kids, limited vacation days and illness. This stress level and frequency I now believe that I absorb. My massage appointments are even “squeezed” into 60 minute sessions because a 90 minuter is “impossible”. I feel this anxiousness, and a grasping for balance that is often unseen and a false reality anyway, we always have enough minutes in every day. I was taught that you should surround yourself with like-minded individuals. Crowds and cliques carry energy and are contagious. Also, the filter in which we see life through changes with age. The exact same situation can appear different with the knowledge of times passing. I know that my environment directly effects my lifestyle, attitude, energy, and very being.

When I finally do return home to Manuel Antonio each November my breaths deepen, my sleep changes, the energy of the beach is like an intravenous boost of love from the universe to me. The jungle humidity coats my body and I can feel the stress of my previous two months literally sweating out of my body. I paddle out into the ocean and surf my first wave and it is hard to not smile, smile deeply. I pass friends in the community on the streets, I grab a beer at Barba Roja, and day by day the previous months disappear. I become very present in Manuel Antonio. My faith deepens and my love blossoms for those in my circle, or the new ones to come. My massages are a pleasure to give and most clients want (and have the time for) longer massages, not lesser. The future is always uncertain but I can remain calm and centered and respectful of what is prophetic in our lives. Go where you feel energy, love others like it is your last day. Jungle, ocean, and wildlife are all for the taking and here for our soul richness. Let’s feel blessed for the year that has passed and welcome 2017 with open arms. The changes that need to happen are within us, why not get started right now?

(Todd Pequeen is a pioneer of the spa industry here in Manuel Antonio since 2000. He works independently at his home studio or at your location and can be reached at 8830-7727. His free time is spent traveling, surfing, reading, writing and spreading the love.)