108 Comments

Loved this piece! Greek here and I have to admit that the cigarette/freddo espresso lifestyle is not only our version of matcha/yoga but it’s definitely not a healthy or carefree one. Ikarians are one of the most long lived people because of their diet, clean air and slow living but the rest of Greece survives on coffee, cigarettes, poor sleep and debt while stuck in traffic. We’re a country lowest on the happiness ranking and high criminality. That said there are so many good things to learn from us and they’re exactly what you mentioned, community, eating carbs from dinner, walking everywhere and just sitting in the sun doing nothing. I personally living here wish more people would take up yoga and start changing their coffee for matcha so I thought I’d give my 2 cents 💌

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Ohh yes I loved reading your point of view!! It’s a total difference to life on the mainland although the people I met in Athens seemed to be so genuine and happy as well 🤍 I’m curious though — do you think there will be a change amongst the younger generation to pick up different habits?

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There’s a shift but not necessarily for the best - younger generations love and sometimes strive for the western culture (the American dream is pretty much still alive here) so think working out, grinding all day to make money/pay rent/start a business/become an influencer, healthy diet but also smoking and partying all night (imagine doing both 😂. smoking is very normalised and part of the culture here for ex. if I think about 20 people I’m probably the only one who doesn’t smoke). So sadly the way of living of older generations and the one you experienced are reserved for older people and those who live on the islands (who are very isolated during winter). Of course there’s the part of younger people who leave the cities to experience slow living and go back to how our grandparents lived, ate, cultivated the earth. I’d love to see it happening more.

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Yup! Came here to mention this as well 👌 Life is quite different in the capital and mainly bigger cities as well.

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Being forced to work 40+ hours a week, which doesn’t include commuting time, is truly what’s making us unwell. They can tell us we just need more discipline or to do this or that thing, but what really needs to happen is our work weeks being drastically shorter and the expansion of the social safety net in the U.S. This is why for me, if your wellness agenda doesn’t include indicting capitalism and the culture of urgency and hyper-productivity, I don’t trust you.

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Yess you’re SO right, one of the first things that need to change is the way we work because it’s one of the biggest reasons for our stress!! Also, culture of urgency hit hard, can’t even look at the word without feeling icky! 🥲

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In his book Drunk, Edward Slingerland distinguishes between "northern" and "southern" drinking cultures.

In northern drinking culture (America, Canada, the UK, Scandinavia, etc.), there is an emphasis on working hard all week and then getting completely hammered one day or night on the weekend.

In southern drinking culture (Italy, Greece, Spain, etc.), people work at a less intense pace and might have one or two glasses of wine each day throughout the week, but they never get knockout drunk.

Northern drinking culture also encourages men to "go out with the boys" (or women to party with their girlfriends) and bond through drunken shenanigans.

Southern drinking culture features extended families getting together (grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, children, etc.) and everyone drinking a little, but no one getting sloshed to the gills.

Being noticeably wasted is looked down on in southern drinking culture, while participants in northern drinking culture brag about how much they consumed the night prior ("I put down 13 pints and a couple shots of Jack last night...").

I can't remember the exact reasons for these two different drinking cultures (it might have to do with climate), but it sounds like you were witnessing a southern drinking culture firsthand!

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I‘ll put this book on my reading list, thank you!! I‘m coming from a northern drinking culture (Germany) and have lived in a southern drinking culture (Spain) and I wholeheartedly agree with these points! Although teens are getting knockout drunk in southern drinking culture as well, wider society definitely has a more social/ family centered approach to drinking 🤍

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I will definitely be reading this book! I come from a northern drinking culture & a teetotaling household. I don't like being drunk so I don't get drunk but I do feel hyper aware of how drinking can be perceived by my kids (being raised in a northern drinking culture as they are) & what messages I am literally & subliminally sending them.

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Drunk is a very good book. There is a lot more to it than the comparison between northern and southern drinking cultures.

Slingerland tries to answer the question, "Why do humans drink and get drunk?" I can't remember his exact conclusions, but I think he says we drink to bond, be creative, and there's a third aspect I'm forgetting!

An interesting point he makes is that from an evolutionary perspective, getting drunk doesn't make much sense. If you accept that humans were hunter-gatherers for thousands of years, getting soused in the wild would put you at risk of getting eaten by an animal or killed by another tribe. Being drunk would seem to be a weakness that we should have evolved out of over thousands of years. But we haven't.

Slingerland then looks at the reasons why we drink, using statistics, stories, and personal anecdotes.

Here's his appearance on Joe Rogan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LksPQP0YaxA&ab_channel=PowerfulJRE

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If there is one thing I’ve learnt from having my heart attack(s) and that’s stop stressing! There was never enough attention paid towards the stress factor when I was in recovery, it was all about diet and exercise ,the no smoking, no drinking, getting down to a weight that matched my height and all that palaver and I must admit I did try for a wee while but found out that I was stressing so much about “ trying” to do the right thing I wasn’t doing well at all.

I stopped stressing.

I listened to my body.

I go for a walk when it suits me, not to a routine or a planned route, I just look outside and think nice day for a wee walk and away I go, meandering along paths I’ve never meandered before and then I might stop and have a slow, relaxing cigarette as I watch the world go by then walk home, I eat when I’m hungry and don’t stick to a regimented diet and I have my wee rum now and then , it’s there to drink when I want one, it’s not there to relief stress or whatever.

We are living in strange times in our society, we can’t have a good night out with friends as our drink driving laws are very sever and usually after one drink people start worrying if they’ve had to much, then some of the group splinter off to have their ciggies and you have two seperate groups doing their thing so deep down nobody is actually relaxed.

Drink what you want, eat what you want, smoke what you want, just

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Honestly sounds like you have a very healthy approach to life!! 🤍 very happy for you and thank you so much for sharing your story!

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Apologies pressed wrong button lol…. Take everything in moderation, relax and enjoy life

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Seriously? Are you really suggesting we drop our high-performing health hustle, stop investing in optimization services, and—ahem—e n j o y? Matcha latte without oat milk? You're killing me.

Thanks so much for your refreshing words.

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Omg I love „health hustle“, such a good description for what people are doing!! It’s not enough that we hustle ourselves to the ground by turning every hobby into a side hustle, we also gotta make sure we „optimize“ our health so much that it becomes a freakin hustle 😂

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Aug 29Liked by Sarah Noack

«What if our health depends less on the nutrition we provide our bodies and more on the nourishment we provide our minds?» 🫶🫶

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Thank you for reading <33

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Aug 28Liked by Sarah Noack

Okay but all the cool influencers drink raw milk and sit in the sun! Haha but for real - the photo of that older lady smoking a cigarette at the end is iconic. I love sitting in the sun, love my coffee, will never smoke again (cancer survivor) and love what you say about how it’s the connection and laid back lifestyle that makes them live so long. I loved spending time in Italy a few summers ago for this exact reason. The countries are capitalist, so I don’t think capitalism is the problem per se, just something uniquely American that lends itself to a super stressed, toxic lifestyle. Thanks for writing about your awesome experience. Great read.

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Thank you so much for reading Suzanne 🩷🩷

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I agree that there is something quite American about stressing over work. There are so many people who could retire or work fewer hours if they just made fewer purchases. Instead they insist on the 3000 sq. foot house, luxury cars requiring never-ending repairs, excessive wardrobes, and constant eating out. Then they have 3 kids and enroll them in travel soccer, band, chinese, and gymnastics, which of course all have conflicting practices.

From a young age we are expected to be busy with no down time. As an adult, I can't get through the weekend without thinking about "the hustle." Maybe it's a me problem (it is), but it's also cultural.

The crazy thing is if we kept driving our Hondas, rejected the idea of shopping every season, accepted that our kids would be alright with just one extracurricular, and lived with our families longer, we could work a lot less.

My friend's mom grew up in the Soviet Union. They didn't have "breakfast" food. They stood in line for hours and took whatever the government would allow them. (It was not waffles or eggs or avocado toast or matcha or coffee... It was barely anything at all.) I don't want my government controlling how much or what food I can buy.

But we must also recognize that just because something is the norm (moving out at 22, upgrading your car every 7 years, buying the biggest house you can afford, ect.), it doesn't mean it's the right choice for us.

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Sep 3Liked by Sarah Noack

Read this while drinking my second cup of coffee of the day (it's 9 in the morning AND I'm breastfeeding.)

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author

Hahahaha my doctor said it’s totally fine to have two coffees during pregnancy and while breastfeeding!! Go mama!

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What if what we need is more physical connection with the earth and sun? More than that, though, what if the secret to longer life, which is most found by island people stuck in close knit communities, forced to interact, is constant interaction, talking to people all the time, while out in the sun and beaches. What if the secret to long life is as simple as talking to your neighbors?

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Yes, research shows that loneliness and social isolation are linked to higher risks of early mortality! I find the thought of growing old in a big city absolutely frightening.

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Sep 3Liked by Sarah Noack

this was a very thought-provoking piece! while striving to incorporate healthy habits into our lives certainly yields positive impacts, constantly obsessing over what the next one should be + disregarding the impact of letting go and savoring community & other more basic but meaningful necessities is detrimental. thank you for this, it definitely gives me some important food for thought <3

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Thank you so much for reading and I’m happy to hear the message resonated with you!!

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I was just in Greece and noticed the same things. In the US we make everything a hundred times more complicated than it has to be and forget the basics. We have a million recipes at our fingertips but the Greeks and Italians have fewer that have been mastered.

All the food I had while in the Greek islands was close to the source and not processed. Walking up those hills every day was a challenge but it was easy to see how a lifetime of it was beneficial.

The experience reminded me to get back to basics and stop always looking for the next fix that’s never going to work. I noticed the Europeans do the best with what they have by dressing nicely but not constantly attempting to remake themselves.

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Yess getting back to the basics and simplifying our lives is definitely a huge factor for our happiness ❤️❤️

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I read something similar recently and it’s nice to see more people discussing the rigid wellness agenda that has people entrapped in their own lives. I fell in this trap myself and have along the way made very good healthy habits and love matcha and all the healthy things, but my introvert-ness has become even more so as I have been more isolated during my wellness era. If we prioritise only our self emptoveness we live smaller lives. Looking back at empty memories. I agree so much with what you say and if I should add anything it’s that the best rule in life is nothing in excess and everything in moderation.

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Totally relate to what you’re saying!! Healing and calming our nervous systems is great and all these wellness tools are good to come back to in busy times but too many people are getting lost in all the healing and forget to actually take their healing journey outside of their homes! Hope we can find the perfect balance for ourselves hehe 💖

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Exactly! Indeed, I hope so too!

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You had me with the title of this piece & I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Makes me miss Europe so much. I’m Swiss/French/Italian originally and there is so much to be said for the apparent health and vibrancy of locals there who are eating real butter, taking the time to enjoy real food over real conversations that span a number of hours, and the joyful incidental exercise of walking, dancing, laughing, and fucking. Hell yes.

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Dancing, laughing and fucking hahaha I LOVE IT!!!

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YES! I also felt this energy / saw this when I was living in Rome. More people should do as the Romans do… 🥂💋

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Girl I’ve been thinking that I desperately need to have a chapter in Rome!!! ❤️

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You DEF need a chapter in Rome! Also I heard Emily in Paris is making a detour…lol

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Sep 11Liked by Sarah Noack

Instant subscribe. For the title alone.

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I think I’ve found my people. Loved this so much! Subscribed.

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Thank you so much and welcome to my little corner of the internet!! ❤️❤️

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