By Shad O’Brien
Sardinia and Her People
Within a few days of knowing Ivo, I began to realize what it really meant to live. Really living, it turns out, entails a lot more than kicking back and enjoying life. No, Ivo’s eyes and countenance painted a different picture than conventional media portrays in describing the island paradise, Sardinia. Granted, at a first glance, one might be tempted to think Sardinians live longer and happier simply thanks to the beautiful Mediterranean island they call home. (Fastame, 2022). But looks can be deceiving; the sweeping hills, lined with stone walls and crested by golden stalks of wheat, were not always such an endearing sight.
Beyond her stunning beaches, Sardinia is a rugged island with jagged cliffs, high mountains, and rolling hills shrouded in gnarled trees. Just as rugged and resilient as the landscape are Sardinia’s people. While it might be true that they don’t sweat the small stuff, make no mistake, they definitely sweat! Their faces, loved by the sun, are leathery, weathered and worn, speaking to the grit it takes to carve out a life on Sardinia. Sards have worked well over a thousand years to clear trees and rocks, all to eke out a place to grow some wheat.
Their collective efforts across generations to cultivate the land may have played a role in generating their deep sense of interconnectedness that has played so heavily into their longevity. (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015) In those same rugged faces, I found warm, encompassing smiles, as welcoming as the rolling waves of Sardinia’s shores. Sardinians carry a deep sense of appreciation for life and all the good and bad that comes with it (Fastame, 2022). Their hands, deeply callused, speak to the work and dedication it takes to put down roots in such a rocky and barren place.
Ivo & Gino
“No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.”
The give and take of life gave birth to the duality that has shaped the Sardinians into a distinctly beautiful people. “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.”—Carl Jung. The hardship of life has taken away any façade of ease, helping the Sardinians see what’s truly important. They understand that the same summer breeze that brings the enriching scent of tilled earth also gives breath to the ravaging infernos that scorch vast swaths of the island. Ivo encompassed this; he carried with him the vitality of youth, but he walked with the ancient confidence of a Sardinian. When asked what the most important life lesson Ivo would want to pass on, he simply said “to regret nothing”.
Ivo and I rubbed shoulders with others who share his perspectives while walking through the heart of Seulo, Sardinia’s Blue Zone. That evening we approached several older people and talked with them about their lives and sources of fulfillment. It was inconclusive because there was no secret recipe to happiness. But ironically, in peering into the life of an old goat herder named Gino, I saw just how simple Seulo life can be. At 96 years old, he had lived out his days walking the hills and tending his goats. Gino reflected that neither he nor his buddies had ever questioned whether they would be goat herders; at the age of 5 or 6 they simply started herding, and they never looked back.
Gino and his wife did not seem to worry much for the past nor look too far into the future. They understood where their life was going, but they did not fret about it. Realizing that we can afford to let most things in life go would do us a lot of good (Juster et al., 2010). Too often we torment ourselves with the past or get caught up in a hopeless sense of dread at the thought of the future. Gino’s final advice to us was to stay healthy, cherish people, and to especially look after and love your family. His wife cooed in, adding to be honest and true to oneself. Looking at their life, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Gino lived in the present, and his life wasn’t an uncommon experience. Time and time again, I asked Sardinians whether they ruminated much about the past or tried to plan out their future, and the answer was consistent: no. They just went to work every day and kept things simple. Their biggest concern was what to have for lunch or which friends they’d like to visit with that afternoon. We might expect some kind of panacea, a key takeaway, or concluding thought, but they would probably just tell us that we have “a lot to learn about living”, so I’ll leave it at that.
References
Fastame, M. C. (2022). Well-being, food habits, and lifestyle for longevity. Preliminary evidence from the sardinian centenarians and long-lived people of the Blue Zone. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 27(3), 728-733. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2022.2038384
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 227-237. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352
Juster, R., McEwen, B. S., & Lupien, S. J. (2010). Allostatic load biomarkers of chronic stress and impact on health and cognition. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(1), 2-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2009.10.002
Sepulveda, A (2021). Ivo and Gino [image]. https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1?ui=2&ik=6fd6f760a2&attid=0.2&permmsgid=msg-f:1746360788488256300&th=183c51e26f837b2c&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=f_l93nfwly1