Si el pueblo fuera música | Ishto Juevez | TEDxPuenteDeLosChocoyos
The speaker, a musician and wanderer, argues that life is an unpredictable improvisation guided by an unseen flow, evidenced by his personal journey—leaving a secure career to travel and live off his music in Costa Rica. He suggests that confronting fears and accepting contradictions, like a broken rib leading to gardening, are necessary for growth and are better understood through lived experience than strict science or religion.
## Speakers & Context
- Unidentified speaker; identifies self as a musician and a gypsy/wanderer.
- Presented material despite not having fully prepared the talk, bringing "a couple of papers."
- Compares life to a show where one never has the chance to rehearse or correct.
- Travel context: Left a secured career in Guatemala to travel abroad, moving in the opposite direction (south) because "everyone there speaks Spanish."
- Current location/circumstance: In Costa Rica, living off his music with no savings.
## Theses & Positions
- Life is a metaphor for a journey; inspiration comes from what moves or pushes one's steps.
- The core principle is improvisation, as life is like a show with no rehearsal time.
- The universe is constantly interacting with us, leading us by a "divine plan" or the "flow of things."
- Negative experiences can push toward something positive.
- Facing fears provides a reward beyond the initial reason for the confrontation.
- One must learn to trust that the universe will provide answers through unexpected accidents.
- The "divine plan" or "flow" guides us, but we are still able to think, consider, and rethink how we respond to stimuli.
- The irrational, childlike part is what ultimately moves us.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Improviser:** One who adapts to the moment, seeing stimuli and responding to the flow.
- **Divine Plan:** The unseen guiding force behind life's events.
- **Comfort Zone:** The predictable area where one feels secure, which the speaker advises against staying in.
- **Water Molecule (H2O):** Used as a scientific analogy; the oxygen atom (flammable/masculine) seeks to transform, while the two hydrogen atoms (the part/feminine aspect) adapt, illustrating adaptation.
- **The Path of the Poor / Along the road to Calvary:** Biblical/literary references used as thematic motifs for difficult journeys.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **The Guitar:** Used as a symbol of his calling, broken in childhood by jumping on it.
- **Improvisation in Music:** The primary metaphor for navigating unplanned life events.
- **The Journey Cycle:** Leaving a stable life $\rightarrow$ Facing fear/void $\rightarrow$ Relying on unique skills (music) $\rightarrow$ Finding unexpected sustenance $\rightarrow$ Transformation.
- **Adaptation (Water Analogy):** The process by which the molecule balances the transforming oxygen with adapting hydrogen atoms.
- **Reading People:** Travelers develop the ability to assess a person's character in five minutes (*cinco segundos*).
## Timeline & Sequence
- Early childhood: Broke his grandfather's guitar by jumping on it.
- Pre-travel: Had a secured career in Guatemala with a plan, but felt something was incomplete.
- Age 23: Decided to leave his career, grab a backpack, and head south.
- Travel Period: Spent about 10 years traveling outside of Guatemala with a backpack.
- Current Activity: Selling shredded coconut sweets while traveling, eventually leading to making a living off his music in Costa Rica.
- Origin of Song: Inspired by a romantic incident where his partner broke a rib, leading to the decision to plant a garden there.
## Named Entities
- **Milan Kundera:** Author quoted regarding the nature of life's unscripted nature.
- **Guatemala:** Former location of speaker's secured career.
- **Costa Rica:** Country where the speaker currently resides and has learned to live off music.
- **San Jose (Costa Rica):** Specific bus area where the speaker played music.
- **Mataró:** Location where a gentleman studied water crystals.
## Numbers & Data
- **23:** Age the speaker decided to leave his career.
- **95%:** Percentage of actions science says are involuntary.
- **5%:** Percentage of decisions the speaker claims are voluntary.
- **Two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom:** Composition of water ($\text{H}_2\text{O}$).
## Examples & Cases
- **Childhood Guitar:** Jumping on his grandfather's guitar until it broke.
- **The Travel Shift:** Leaving a structured life to go south (counter-intuitive migration).
- **The Void:** Choosing to face fear and walk into the void rather than return to the comfort zone.
- **Coconut Sweets:** Initial, temporary business idea used for survival during travel.
- **The Friend's Encouragement:** A friend told the speaker, "No, you're a musician. I've heard you sing. You have to do what you have to do because you know it."
- **The Love Story/Rib Break:** A positive outcome (deciding to garden) arising from a negative event (a broken rib).
- **The Meme:** A modern example contrasting the contemplative nature of spirituality (being in the canoe) versus institutional religion (wishing to be in the canoe).
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Guitar:** The instrument central to the speaker's life and calling.
- **Backpack:** Symbol of his commitment to wandering.
## References Cited
- Milan Kundera: Author whose quote frames life as an unrehearsed show.
- Scientific/Academic Study (Water Crystals): Study by a gentleman in Mataró concerning water molecules and emotional inputs.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Career Security vs. Calling:** Trading a "secured career" for an uncertain path following music.
- **Comfort Zone vs. Challenge:** Choosing to walk into the void (fear) instead of returning to the known comfort zone.
- **Method of Livelihood:** Transitioning from selling physical goods (coconut sweets) to performing music.
- **Spiritual Belief Systems:** Contrasting the structured approach of religion with the open contemplation of spirituality.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- Acknowledges that scientific and religious explanations are insufficient to explain life's movement.
- The speaker admits that the ability to plan everything is an illusion; he "can't change my path because the flow of the universe flows in its own way."
## Methodology
- Self-Reflection and Anecdote: Using personal history (childhood, travel, romance) as primary evidence.
- Comparative Symbolism: Using the water molecule, the broken rib, and the journey itself to explain abstract concepts.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- To face challenges and grow.
- To embrace the improvisational nature of life.
- To observe and trust the "flow of the universe" and the answers it brings.
- To recognize the irrational, childlike part as what moves us.
## Implications & Consequences
- Understanding life as an improvisational performance suggests that struggle and chance are integral to self-discovery.
- The transformation from a negative event (broken rib) into a positive action (gardening) is a model for resilience.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"life is like a kind of show in which we never have the chance to rehearse and then present it."*
- *"I am a musician. Besides being a musician, I am a gypsy. I am a wanderer."*
- *"What the journey taught me, among other things, is that the universe is interacting with us all the time."*
- *"What is negative sometimes pushes us towards something positive, and what is negative and positive sometimes leads to something negative."*
- *"I've decided to do this with my life, and I've decided to do this because that's precisely what drives me to face challenges and grow."*
- *"I decided to do the opposite. I decided to face my fear and walk with my feet into the void to see where it would lead me."*
- *"No, you're a musician. I've heard you sing. You have to do what you have to do because you know it."*
- *"Science says that 95% of our actions are involuntary."*
- *"cinco segundos porque nuestra vida depende de eso como les digo soy un viajero y fui aprendiendo eso."*
- *"I think we all need a little push to keep going."*
- *"the irrational part, it's the part of the child."*