On January 8th I was taping the psychological consultation section of my natural foods cooking show Qué Rico when all of a sudden...EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!! To say the least it scared the living daylights out of me. My father is the clinical psychologist of my show and right in the middle of telling him the story of the television viewer we were literally shook up. My Dad initially started swerariing in Spanish and then reapeatedly said "Calma" which means "Let's keep calm." He said it eight times and the earthquake stopped! The thing is he didn't sound very relaxed as he said it! I called the news program of my channel to tell them I had the best taping of the moment. They were so busy with the emergency that they didn't pay any attention to me. I called them three times but they didn't pick up the cassette which was right there in the channel.

 

As I understand, Costa Rica has not had a earthquake of this proportion for many many years. There were no damages in our studios or in my home but one area of Costa Rica suffered insurmountable damage and 20 deaths due to landslides that buried people alive. Apparently many people are missing and the families will not be able to recuperate the bodies of their loved ones. This has been very sad for the country. The news repeatedly puts on the victims, showing their anguish and desperation.

 

I waited a week and decided to post the moment of the earthquake on our channel at You Tube. That was two days ago. All of a sudden this video is internatinally famous. There has been, as of today, more than 60,000 views of the video. The video appeared on the Latin News Show PRIMER IMPACTO which airs in the United States and many Latin American countires. We were on the Channel 6 and Channel 7 Costa Rican news plus newspaper interviews here in Costa Rica. There are more than 400 comments posted about the video on You Tube.

 

People mostly laugh when they see the video and many say it was a much needed relief from so much tragedy. Some say they laugh and feel guilty because they know people have suffered terribly from this event. Actually thousands have been affected because they were obligated to leave their homes, animals, belongings etc. because the Costa Rican government declared the area as a risk zone.

 

I'm really shocked though at the enormous response to this video. My father's book WE'RE HAVING SEX RIGHT NOW! appears on the screen because precisely the material of the book is what we discuss on this section of the program. The book proposes real solutions to better our lives as individuals and in society. This book can make a real difference for everyone but people seem to be more interested in shocking and tragic circumstances than in their selves and their own self-understanding. And on and on we go...but where? Maybe this is an opportunity to call some attention to calming down and learning about waht really makes us tick.

 

Here's the link if you want to see what nature is capable of doing: