Living Undimmed, Living Pura Vida
Article by: Cecily Mak — Co-founder of Wisdom Ventures, ClearLife Reset, and the author of Undimmed, The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits (Flatiron/Macmillan US; Penguin/RandomHouse UK)
Photo Credit: Cecily Mak
Presence, Not Passivity
I’ve been fortunate to travel to Costa Rica once or twice a year for several years now. Each visit had its own unique purpose: studying, enjoying time with family, healing, and most recently, finding respite after a hectic tour following the January release of my latest book. Different reasons, but the same pull.
There's something visitors tend to notice pretty quickly: despite the pace of modernization, people here seem more at ease. Living and working to their own rhythm. To those of us arriving from hustle-driven, productivity-obsessed environments, it can almost read as passive — this quiet, unhurried quality, where people seem to exude a sense of “enoughness”. It's part of what makes Costa Rica so magnetic.
As I’ve deepened my connections here — with locals, with expats, with people who chose to build their lives in this place — the more I've come to understand that pura vida is something more layered than relaxation. It's less about chilling out and more about a conscious orientation toward life. Being okay with a natural pace, an appreciation for what is, as is. It's not about measuring ourselves against some idea, but rather being present for where we are, who we are with, and being honest about our underlying why.
Examining Our Why
Eight years ago, I decided to take a spontaneous thirty-day break from alcohol. The changes I noticed that month were significant enough that I kept going. Physically, I felt better. My mind was sharper. And there was this deepened clarity and presence that, frankly, changed things for me in ways I hadn't expected. Despite some social awkwardness at the outset, month after month, and then year after year, the benefits kept quietly outweighing whatever I thought I was giving up.
What I found through years of researching and writing about habits—why we reach for things to soften the edges of life, and how to build enough self-awareness to pause before something becomes a real problem—is that our go-tos are rarely about "the thing" itself. Some of us reach for Instagram, some of us indulge in sugar, some of us get an unhealthy thrill out of spending money, and some of us can’t seem to stop doing things for other people and take care of ourselves. A "dimmer," as I've come to call it, is simply something we're doing to feel less.
Puzzled by the lack of frameworks and resources available to people who want to examine and possibly pause a dimming habit (especially a potentially addictive one) before it’s a real problem, I crafted the Eight Awarenesses — as a gentle path to freedom from habits that were holding me back, then decided to share them more broadly in my recent book.
Photo Credit: Cecily Mak
I was approached by a beautiful woman in her seventies at the end of a recent talk. She explained that she used to drink occasionally and was enjoying her fourth year alcohol free. “But I am hiking the multi-week Camino Francés in Spain this summer, a bit of a reunion among old friends, and I want to enjoy the sunset glass of rosé with them at sunset from time to time.” I asked her a few questions about why she wanted that glass. What I heard back was enjoyment, shared memories, celebration — no mention of taking the edge off, no undercurrent of loss of control. I'm not in the business of telling people what to do with their lives, and less so whether to drink or not. But after hearing her describe something that sounded celebratory and like bonding delight rather than escapist indulgence, I told her to trust herself and enjoy the wine!
Living Undimmed is Pura Vida in Action
The invitation of an undimmed life is to notice that the power to choose what we do, consume, or otherwise allow into our lives lies within us. From that place, life becomes more deliberate. More present. More genuinely enough.
What I call living "undimmed" and what Costa Rica calls pura vida are, at their core, pointing at the same thing: a life lived with intention, with appreciation, and less unnecessary strain. This can apply at both an individual and a collective or communal level.
As Costa Rica continues to boldly step into the future, the landscape is evolving quickly with an endless stream of construction, development and modernization. Dirt roads are being paved, prices are going up, and these growing pains are visible everywhere: from increased traffic to real concerns of whether families can still afford basic needs.
For a country that has long celebrated a more intentional pace, the question worth sitting with is: how do you evolve without losing your essence?
Honestly, I think it comes down to each of us. Whether Costa Rica is home or a place you're lucky enough to visit, we are, together shaping the country that future generations will either cherish or find difficult to recognize. That's not a small thing. The Eight Awarenesses—especially #2 I choose what I consume, #3 about intuition and the might of its guidance, and #8 on seeking out ways to support others—can serve to guide both at an individual and collective level as we evolve and adapt to new ways of being.
Bending, Not Breaking
A tree bends with the wind and stays rooted. That's the image I keep coming back to.
Pura vida is a cultural ethos. "Living undimmed" is a personal practice. But they're linked intrinsically through the shared value of embracing life fully and authentically. And sustaining that, through growth and change and all the pressures that come with both, requires us to remain steadfast in our core values. Just like a tree in the wind.
We can do this by examining the underlying why in all of our choices and actions, reflecting on our motivations before acting.
Individually: are we being conscious, or passive? Are we consuming and doing to escape, or to genuinely connect?
Collectively: are we chasing short-term gains, or building something the next generation can actually thrive in?
How can we sustain and evolve pura vida to be a guiding force, the light of this special country, and keep it from eroding into a shallow bumper sticker? We can do this together, taking personal responsibility for our own lives, our own choices, our own ways of being, but be aware of the ripple effect these have on those around us. It means recognizing that our inner state of wellbeing and our sense of community are not separate things: they feed each other, they are interdependent.
Pura vida is not passive ease, but rather a series of conscious choices about how we live and why. As Costa Rica continues to evolve, those choices—made daily, quietly and together—will determine whether it remains a living practice or becomes just a phrase on a keychain.
1. My Life Is Better Clear
Are there activities or habits that dull or dim our potential? How might we be better off without them?
2. I Choose What I Consume
Are we being passive about what we “let in” or bring into our lives, our homes, our communities? Can we be more intentional about these choices to ensure they are aligned with our core values?
3. My Intuition Defines My Priorities
When decisions are hard to make or we find ourselves with too many options, tuning into our most essential truths and inner guidance can help light the way.
The Eight Awarenesses
4. My Trauma Isn’t My Identity
It is easy to get caught in a loop of over-fixating on the past or how things could have been better. The invitation is to recognize and learn from these difficulties and not let them define us.
5. Forgiveness and Letting Go Are on the Path to Liberation
Making peace with residual tensions, resentments, or frustrations can free us to be more present, more impactful, more grateful for where we are now.
6. I Do Not Judge or Impose My Orientations Upon Others
We can do our best every day and trust that those around us are doing their best too. Tying it back to pura vida, this is “enoughness” embodied.
7. Time Is Our Most Precious Currency
Our time here is finite and its duration unknown. Let’s together make the most of what we do have, enjoy life, be generous, slow down, and notice the good and beauty around us in whatever way possible.
8. I Seek Ways to Support Others
Finally, we all have the capacity to help others, even if in very small ways. Let’s take a little time every single day to do something outside of ourselves and extend what we have in service of a greater whole.