Through the Darkness of Loss
Daniel Brett Surfing in Nosara
A TRIBUTE TO DANIEL BRETT — JUNE 19, 1976 to SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
On September 15, 2022, Mango Realty and our community lost a colleague and dear friend, Daniel Brett.
Daniel was the keeper of our newsletter, the creative hand in our blog series, a professional musician, and a published author. He was also an exceptionally loyal and charismatic friend of almost a decade. Since his death, our outreach efforts paused to pay him quiet respect and to be kind to ourselves during the swell of grief that flowed in the wake of his sudden passing from a brain aneurism. Though we still have a hard time reconciling the loss, we have been able to gather perspective and reflect on some of the gifts he left tattooed in our minds and on our hearts.
To know Daniel was to know Nosara. He embodied the qualities that make its residents and our collective ex-pat life here distinctive: His determination to succeed in a challenging professional climate when he first arrived reflects the grit and intention it takes to create a life here. Daniel’s musical talent and onstage charm captured the essence of this enigmatic town and gave us the soundtrack to our shared decade. He had the ability to hold others accountable through his writing and boisterous discourse. To debate with him for an hour, or a whole evening, mirrors how life in Nosara challenges and broadens our perspective. He is testimony that, ultimately, it is people that make Nosara the community that it is. Relationships and engagement are the real reason we cherish this place so deeply, and why so many of us stay.
The last several months have shown us that a community’s losses should not be ignored when defining a place like Nosara. During the darkest days following his death, gatherings at El Chivo brought us much-needed comfort and Daniel’s numerous and varied circles of friends came together and made deeper connections after his passing. His death lay bare the bonds we shared with him but also reveal and brace the ones we still get to cherish. His funeral in Liverpool was attended by hundreds, including 15 Nosareños. The “paddle out” held in his honor saw over 100 people gather in the water to spread his ashes on the waves which, to Daniel, were tantamount to religion. We sang Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, and Led Zeppelin songs while Daniel’s longtime bandmate Paddy Cooke played an acoustic guitar from the deck of Daniel’s 5’6” “trusty Rusty”. Connection can light up the darkest loss the way stars bring relief to our pitch-black night sky.
It is natural that the death of someone so vibrant, intelligent, and loved leaves a stony silence after his song has ended. In the emptiness of that silence is a call to live a little more like Daniel did:
Accumulate less.
Engage more.
Abandon small talk.
Surf every day.
Know yourself and live your truth.
Laugh.
Love.
Daniel showed us that beauty lies in the things that stay behind after you leave the world, and those things cannot be burned down or sold. Because of Daniel, we have seen the beauty of Nosara through the darkness of loss. There are lessons, paradoxes, and silver linings, just as Daniel would have liked it.
Happy birthday, amigo.
If you want to celebrate Daniel’s memory, please consider a donation to the causes which were close to his heart:
Nosara Civic Association – nosaracivicassociation.com
Surfability UK – surfabilityukcic.org
Gnome Surf – gnomesurf.com
