There are many things I've been wondering about since we moved to Mexico, a little over 4 years ago...
4 years! Wow. Time sure flies.
Anyway, one of those things I wondered about was why on earth we kind of got 'stuck' here in Playa. Out of all places we could have landed.
"Stuck" sounds worse than it is. There are definitely worse places to be stuck in.
We're stuck in paradise. The only reason why I say we are stuck here, is because the initial plan was to travel through Mexico, explore, and then find the best place for us to settle down.
Life threw us some curveballs, and here we are, 4 years later, not much travel done (but some), and still in Playa. So let me explain what I've discovered. Or made up. You be the judge...

Created in Leonardo.ai

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When Life throws you Curveballs you end up with Lemons in Paradise

Again: we're not actually 'stuck' here. We just can't move or go to other places right now. And that's perfectly fine. It's not punishment to be here. Quite the opposite. People save years to come here on their holiday, and we get to live here!

In the beginning, I had a slight issue with this. Mainly because this is tourist central and I definitely didn't want to end up in one of the most touristy places in the country. I wanted to experience the 'real' Mexico. Live among locals so to speak. Here, hardly anyone is truly local. I've met a total of maybe 5 people who were actually born here. Only the younger generation now, about 10 years and younger, were born here.
Everyone else is either an immigrant, expat or Mexican from elsewhere.
Lots are from Mexico city. Others from Tabasco, Veracruz, Yucatan...pretty much from all over the place.

Why is this? Well, Playa del Carmen is a relatively young city. 30-40 years ago, the only reason why people came here was to take the ferry to Cozumel. Even 10 years ago it was still small compared to now. In these last 10 years, it's grown out to become a mid-sized city of around 200k people. More or less, because the numbers seem to change all the time. 1000 expats in, 2000 out. Kinda like that...

Part my photo, part AI. Created in leonardo.ai

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We're perfectly in the middle between the much larger Cancun and the world famous Tulum.
Both annoying in their own way. A true Playaense, which you can be whether you were born here or not, despises both places, and for good reason. Cancun is for shopping and the airport, while Tulum is for the beaches and expensive food. Anything else is wishful thinking.

So for these past few years, I've been wondering: why here? Why Playa?
I figured part of it out a while ago.
Playa has and has attracted a lot of healers. Aside from the Temascals & cacao ceremonies or the Ayahuasca, Kambo, mushroom & Bufo retreats, offered by local and not so local shamans (I mean, who wants one of those ceremonies performed by a guy named Bill?) that were here as long as most can remember, a lot of new healer import has entered the scene these past few years.

Every other person you'll meet here will tell you they're either some kind of reiki or massage person or a real estate agent. I'm not even joking. Or both, if you keep the Mexican work style in mind. With that I mean five jobs and two side hustles. True Mexicans do all that...

Anyway...I also do both. Real estate (not actively now, but when it comes up) and I am officially a hypnotherapist, just not practicing at the moment. Which is fine.
You see, when the people from the US, Canada and Europe moved to Mexico during the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, lots of the healing types seemed to have settled Playa del Carmen.
Yes, Tulum has them too, but they're a different type. We call them the Tuluminati haha.

Personally, I am a firm believer of 'everything happens for a reason', and therefore I believe that I am here for many of the same reasons those other people are here. Not just for the beaches and the weather, but for a greater purpose. But what purppose? Jury's still out on that, I will get back to you when I know...
But since my recent visit to a Mayan village in Yucatan, things are getting clearer.
I'll get back to that another time.

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Surrounded

My son with a strange bush, with strange lychee-type fruits. Not very nice though

That title sounds terrifying but it isn't. What I mean by it, is that I am surrounded by good things. Yes the people. Yes the beaches. Yes the wildlife and nature. Yes the food...
But one thing that sticks out to me are the healing plants that are literally growing everywhere like weeds...
In Western countries they'd be called weeds for sure. Even some Mexican people (like my land lady) would call it so. But I don't.
I'll see a lovely flower or an interesting tree, and I'll look up what it is.
The universe gave me PlantNet, and I'll use it dammit!

So when I picked up one little plant, it turned out to be good for many things. Another, also for many things...and so on.
My eldest comes to visit and asks if she can buy Chanca Piedra here somewhere, and I point outside to my garden where it grows in large numbers. You have a headache? Backyard will have something.
My friend came to visit and casually points at a tree right next to the house: a moringa! Good for lots of things and almost entirely edible. Taro plants growing everywhere...
Mango, papaya and limes...you name it.
And then, of course, we have the sacred Ceiba tree. A tree that could both kill you with its spikes and heal you.
You can walk around here and within 1 hour find a whole apothecary of things that heal.

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Something New

It's an idea I've been playing with. But now is the time to actually start doing it.
I've started to take pictures and videos of those plants and document what they do.
Maybe even turn it into a book someday...
But the idea is this: since history has seen so many book burnings, it's not a crazy thought to document these things. Internet gets censored and sometimes even cleared of things..
It's much harder now to find good information about these things than it was before, and easy at the same time. But people rely on the internet for everything and what if there's a power outage and you have a bursting headache? Well, wouldn't it be nice to know which plant to pick?
Yeah, that's what I thought.
So I've started to document these things on paper, and I will do it here too.
That way, it'll be on the blockchain for good.
And on paper unless it burns...
The Mayans have used these plants for a long time, but nothing has truly be documented by them, because it's all passed on to the next generation.
A woman in Acapulco told me to take the flowers of the bougainville and make tea with it for my cough. It worked! Who knew? Well now I do!

These things need to be documented and turned into something.
So there, that's what I want to do. Doing it.

Soon, you'll hear more...