Feeling Irie? Jah mon!

One of my good friends, Ethan, recently came back from a vacation (with his wife Christine) to Jamaica. Here's a good story that he passed along, properly quoted at his request and re-printed here with his express, written permission. :)

"I got friendly with a bunch of the locals (It was a very [Frank E. Speaks] moment)...they taught me some Patoi (the local slang dialect)...the thing that impressed me was that they have no word for "bad". Whenever you ask anyone how they are doing it is always Irie. Me being Me asked what happens when everything is not Irie...they actually had to think on it for a few mins and couldn't come up with anything. The one guy told me that everything is Irie and even if it isn't, it will be again soon so looking fwd to that moment...everything is Irie."

I love this philosophy. It's one that I think we'd all be healthier to adopt. Urbandictionary defines "irie" as being "at total peace with your current state of being. The way you feel when you have no worries."

The word and concept of "irie" reminds me a bit of the unofficial national motto of Costa Rica: "pura vida." Pura vida is literally translated as pure life. But its true meaning is much deeper. Pura vida is used as a greeting, such as saying hi. Pura vida is also used to say what's up. But pura vida ultimately means life is good, everything's chill, I hope you're doing alright and chilling too, so take it easy and go good!

In the spirit of this post, I wish you the very best for a wonderful day. Be irie and pura vida mae!!!