Intention is a Political Project

The other day I began to reconceive of certain political projects as acts of intention.  Specifically, I remember what guided me to certain parts of the world, like Cuba, Costa Rica, and Ecuador.  I wanted to go to Cuba to better understand the realities of socialism.  I went to Costa Rica knowing that a large portion of the wild is protected from development & also off-limits to humans for a day each week.  After learning that in 2008 Ecuador amended its constitution to reflect the rights of animals, land, and bodies of water, I booked a trip.

In each of these places there is still tremendous work to be done to live upto stated ideals.  However, in my own (limited) experience in these places, I did come to understand the power of these intentions.

I was an exchange student in Havana, Cuba for a semester in 2001.  I remember being so overwhelmed by the lack of privacy.  Any time I walked down the street someone would sidle up and walk alongside me, making animated conversation.  Now, those of you who know me know that I can talk.  This overwhelmed even me!  I'm accustomed to a certain level of anonymity on U.S. streets.  I'm used to being able to walk out my door, to a coffee shop, and reside in the privacy of my own thoughts.  That simply wasn't an option in Cuba.  I remember spending too much time in my room (much to my roommate's chagrin) simply because I wanted time with no questions, no conversation, no quick friendships.

My roommate, Kieu, across the table in Barrio Chino, Havana, Cuba

Finally, I asked one of my new best friend's why I couldn't have any privacy.  "Privacy?  Why do you need privacy?  This is a Socialist country.  We share resources and space.  What do you need for yourself?"  It was such an interesting response.  I had never considered the impact of economic organization on my interpersonal relationship!  Why did I deserve privacy?  What did it really accomplish?  Throughout the world people and animals live much more communally and much more publicly.  There are benefits and deficits to this just as there are benefits and deficits to having privacy.  It's simply a matter of what we're accustomed to-- the space to which we feel entitled.

There were so many similar lessons in Cuba.  I met people who had been part of the Revolution and recalled their ideals, their intentions.  Another aspect of no privacy was relentless cat calls, the ubiquitous, "Oya, nena!" accompanied by hissing sounds.  I found a feminist who had thrown molotov cocktails to oust Batista, alongside Che.  I asked her how she reconciled some of these ideals of equality with such prevalent street harassment of women.  She recalled having visited the U.S. in her youth.  "I felt invisible there."  She mentioned that in the U.S. catcalls often spoke to another type of aggression-- the threat of physical attack by men on women.  While these attacks certainly occur in Cuba as well, they're not always linked to verbal attention.  Again, I can't say I feel comfortable with men's vocal comments to women on the streets of Havana, but it helped me understand that it didn't necessarily signify the same as in the U.S.

Kevin biking on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

When Kevin & I traveled to Costa Rica, I was initially shocked to learn that most parks were closed for a day out of every week to give the land, plants, and animals a respite from human presence.  A troubling sense of entitlement bubbled up in me, "Why can't I go?  That's inconvenient for me to reschedule."  On second thought, I was able to grasp how little my convenience mattered in the larger scale of prioritizing the needs of the natural world.  Again, this policy of rest for these spaces doesn't completely combat the ills of human presence on the natural world.  It's a step, and a powerful step.  It shifted, greatly, my sense of the needs of the natural world.

Basilica Del Voto, Quito, Ecuador

On our first day in Quito, Ecuador, Kevin & I visited the Basilica del Voto.  This Basilica famously depicts many images from the natural world to best show worship to the divine presence in all things.  As the photos above demonstrate, any view might offer a turtle, toucan, goat, or tree.  The holiness of the natural world is brought within the walls of the Basilica.

Ecuador changed its Constitution to reflect the rights of land, water, air, plants, and animals.  Perhaps this intention is best demonstrated on the Galapagos islands.

Floreana Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

We were searched thoroughly before flying to the Galapagos.  Park security is vigilant to ensure that no foreign seeds, animals, or other potentially interfering matter is brought into the delicate eco-system of the archipelago.  Hiking through the Charles Darwin center, we found plenty of public restrooms, trashcans, recycing, and compost centers.  I was surprised!  Kevin pointed out that where there aren't publicly accessible restrooms, people make other arrangements.  This certainly will affect plant, soil, and animal life.

Heron, Tortuga Bay, Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador

Iguana, Tortuga Bay, Isla Santa Cruz, Ecuador

Tortuga Bay on Isla Santa Cruz, was our favorite beach on the Galapagos.  These iguanas sun, swim, & live throughout the beach.  Therefore the beach is only open from 6-6 every day.  After sundown humans are cleared off the beach.  This also gives the turtles opportunity to come on shore.

None of these policies has completely stabilized the intricate network of human, plant, and animal needs.  I don't know of a community that has found the balance necessary for optimal health for all.  However, the collective intention, the stated goal of care & protection for one another, and specific populations, shifts the attention of everyone within the community.  As a visitor to all these places, I was deeply changed.  I carry these lessons & work to enact them in my daily life.  I set intention and recognize the power and potential in that act.