Taking it Easy

Greetings again from Guatemala.

Having spent the better part of a decade at Duke, I´ve gotten pretty used to being busy, to always having an assignment to turn in or something to check off my to-do list. So my first week here, I saw all the sights, studied real hard and started to get frustrated that I was not yet fluent in Spanish. After all, I had been immersed in it for a whole week. As it turns out, I needed to relax a little.

When I signed up to go to Central America this summer, somewhere in my mind I was thinking that I´d have a nice, laid-back summer. And for the most part (at least so far), I have been right. Granted, I´ve had some struggles and I´ve had to make some adjustments, but I´ve got it pretty good here. I learn Spanish for a few hours in the morning, my adopted Guatemalan sisters have lunch ready for me when I get home, and I have the afternoons and evenings free to do pretty much whatever I want. I have a lot of free time and very few responsibilities. And to be honest, there have been some days where I was bored out of my mind. I think I have walked down every street in the city. And I can only conjugate so many verbs and hike up so many mountains. With nothing pressing to do, I´ve really had to learn how to relax.

In some places, taking it easy is part of the culture. I´m not sure that´s the case here given the speed at which the buses dart around mountain curves. And I have never heard people honk their car horns so often. In any case, relaxing isn´t really part of the culture I have been in for the past few years. As such, I´ve had to work really hard at slowing down and taking it easy.

And work I have. I´ve found a couple of quiet little cafes. And I´ve bought a few good, used books. And I´ve spent hours at a table drinking the same (no longer) hot chocolate. It´s all still fairly new to me. And I admit, I have been tempted, while sitting in one of my favorite new spots, to make a list of all the things I need to do before I head to El Salvador later this week. But I´ve held off, because in forcing myself to relax, in forcing myself to slow down and take it easy, I think I´m learning a little more about what it means to be human. As a student in the Divinity School, I´m blessed with many wonderful opportunities and experiences. But often, I find that it´s not until well after those experiences that I even realize how wonderful they were. But even my reflection and belated enjoyment are rushed by the need to get on with the next thing.

But now I´ve had a taste of what it´s like to slow down, to live in the moment, as they say. And I rather like it. I can get lost in my thoughts. I can read a book for fun. I can stare off into the distance, watching the clouds dance up the side of the mountain without worrying about what´s not getting done. I can truly begin to feel the life and love that fills every place because I´m no longer busy plowing right through it.

Seann Duffin
M.Div. ´08
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.