Issue #12: Beyond the Dust: A Journey of Community and Self-Discovery at Envision by Trisha Benson

From Sidelines to the Heart of Uvita: Uncovering Life's Potential Through Music, Dance, and Communal Bonds

I grew up at the doorway to Burning Man in Reno, Nevada, yet never once made the journey. As siblings, friends, and even my own mother ventured to the desert year after year, I stood on the sidelines, idly pondering the allure of the heat, dust and sani-huts. Could it really be that life-affirming, life-changing, life-(insert favorite superlative)? 

In my forties and never once having attended any kind of festival, when the opportunity arose to head out to Envision festival in Uvita, I decided to say, “fuck it,” pack a bag of the closest thing I had to “festival clothes”, i.e. tiny bikinis and sparkly lingerie, and hitched a ride down the coast. 

My festival-mates were the people I was trying to build community with in the Machuca Valley. I knew them tangentially, liked their spirits, and was happy to have the opportunity to drop more deeply into friendship. I hoped. It was either that, or the weekend was going to make me question all my life choices in moving to Costa Rica! (A contemplation many of us have faced more than we’d like to admit.)

My aspirations weren’t that exciting, honestly. After 9 years in “mom mode,” my imagination could only extend to the possibility of having a couple dance-filled evenings of freedom where no one desired or asked anything of me. I wanted to eat ice cream for dinner without worrying if I was covering the nutritional requirements of my offspring. I wanted to smile, to laugh, to be taken by the current of the crowd and returned home lighter, with a little more space in my heart. 

On the surface, Envision is exactly what one would expect from a festival: men and women adorned in their most elaborate and tiniest of costumes, complete with feathers and of course, biodegradable glitter. It seemed a prerequisite for staff to sport at least one, if not two, nose rings. There was music with bass so delicious it rattled your bones and every kind of sound healing, yoga and spiritual delight to stretch your soul. The presence of drugs–or medicine, depending on your perspective and how much or little you pray over them pre-consumption–was undeniable.

The festival truly has something for everyone, with music running the gamut of genres from Reggae to Disco to hard hitting hip-hop. Watch a talk on regenerative education and then head over to see the most stunning drag queens strut their stuff. Feel like screaming out your rage? Enter the vulvic curtain opening of the Red Tent where you can travel back into the womb with your sisters, then be birthed back out and have the most devine vegan ice cream you’ve ever encountered. 

Feel like casting spells? Village Witches gathered in their own space for communal healing and ceremony, culminating in a broom-making workshop and “flying” them to the beach for a joyous, screeching and celebratory circle. 

Personally, though, the spell I fell under was sunset on the beach. As the sun burned its fire slowly down to the ocean’s horizon, the drum circle and dancers moved like one gigantic and overwhelming prayer to the day. The heart, creativity and symbiosis of the group, so divine in its juiciness, brought tears to my eyes. And I’m not the crying type. 

Yet, what truly amazed me was the realization that the universe often delivers experiences far beyond my imagination. And while I danced until my body felt like I had been partaking in a WWF match, and I absorbed the gifts of the teachers and performers who shared themselves with all of us, the true gift I received was far greater and unexpected. 

Envision allowed me to truly grasp the potential for community we all seek. It was in the smallest moments: the long car ride where we shared our stories; the sweaty happy hugs on the dance floor; the temple moments where we shared our intentions and realized how similar we all are. It was in the gentle teasing and lecturing when I chose to eat only ice cream for dinner, and the way we all looked out for each other with ease and joy. 

What I got from Envision was in the name. Life-changing and life-affirming are what we all want a taste of in Costa Rica; a place where we can grow as individuals, while honoring our contributions, gifts and the differences that make us unique. Regardless of our background or ideological differences, there is a thread between us that allows us to see the truth and possibility here, even if the heat, dust and figurative sani-huts sometimes cloud our senses. And in that very real way, Envision lived up to the hype. It gave me the gift of seeing the possibility that exists here for us all. 

~ Trisha Benson