To understand what it means and what it takes to live simply and coherently, I have been putting myself in their shoes for a day, a week, a month.. I have shared their honest everyday life in the places where they have chosen to live. They have been Showing me what they have decided to do with their one, wild and precious life.
Like Francesca and Marco, an Artist and a Chef, that sold their successful restaurant on the seaside to return to her grandparents land to reclaim it from 30 years of abandonment. With their 3 children, a Naturopath, a waiter and a young Cicerone, they embarked on the building of their eco & chemical-free home: a stunning 3 stories straw-bale house on a remote hillside behind the Cinqueterre. The first strawbale house in Liguria.
Their home, called ‘Il Filo di Paglia’, is a B&B and a working didactical farm; their orchard is a bastion of old fruits varieties; their fields are eclectic embodiments of gardening philosophies: BRF, biodynamic, fukuoca, Manenti method, permaculture, and local popular tradition. Here the everyday work is meditation: reciting ho’oponopono mantras ‘I love you, thank you’ while chopping chilies; walking in meditation spirals to pick the herbs for dinner; taking the kitchen scraps to feed the chickens, that will provide the feed for the garden, that provides the veggies to accompany the roasted chicken that feeds the people.
They share their Love for good food as Slow Food crusaders of taste. They are farmers, cheese makers, herbalists and foragers by old traditions, they are innovators in the return to the simple life. Supporter of all things healthy, holistic, natural, they are people of big heart with lots of energy, knowledge, experiences and enthusiasm to share. they share the lessons thy have learned with WWOOFers and guests alike. For a day or a week, visitors are welcome as part of the family. They don’t offer just a holiday, they give a life experience, a genuine taste of their land and their life. Here even the chickens roam free.
While Food is the physical energy, Relations (family, friends, neighbors..) give us energy and motivation to act, they give us purpose, meaning, sense of belonging. The quality of the mental and spiritual energy in your life is largely a result of the quality of the relations you keep. Relations are made of presence, shared moments, time and intentions. To understand the feeling of overflowing joy and overall wellbeing this can give you, you just need to put the time and positive intention to Be there, in that moment.
This I have seen visiting Vittorio, once a professor teaching in world universities, now retired to grow herbs and make health products on a stunning hill, that looks like a corner of Austalia in Sicily. Or like with Nirav, a world sailor that left the yacht to dedicate his cares to growing oranges. The best oranges I found in Sicily! He takes the calls of his clients, going out in the garden to pick and send a case of fruits that reaches your doorstep within three days, and with still the smell of sunshine on the skin. Philosophy of short supply chain (Filiera corta) direct from producers to consumers, only when the season is right. (Nirav, 0039 349 1645340 lacasadelleacque@tiscali.it). His house is another Cosmopolitan centre of life always full of people, where I was introduced to the ‘Holistic Art of Olive Tree Pruning’, and where over the years thousands of travellers have arrived from all over the world. However, the locals and the sat nav would not be able to tell you the way to get here. Everything is connected through other networks, through other ways.
For two years now I have been trying on lifestyles like dresses. Looking for examples of happily balanced lifestyles, I set foot through spiritual community and holistic centres, lived with holistic practitioners, a master of Chinese medicine, with eco-fighters, with farmers, herbalists, motley folks, with shepherds and shamans. They are individuals, families, communities, tribes.. They are all artists, they are all open hearted people.
I feel so much richer in shared experiences, connections, magic moments and unique taste experiences. I will always have with me the taste of auntie Maria’s Pistachio cake, made with the nuts picked on their land, the taste of Pia’s fresh pesto, of the cheese of Peppino, of the wine of Giampaolo..
The taste of eating food you have grown yourself leaves you the best aftertaste you can have in life. Sharing it with friends and family gives you the salt of life. But Tastes don’t travel well away from their land, the journey to find them makes all the difference.
So my journey goes on, tasting my way through life, carrying with me a pot of orange marmalade, like sunshine in a jar. Everything is connected.
Links you may find interesting:
IL filo di paglia – http://www.agriturismoilfilodipaglia.it/
la casa delle acque – tel 349 1645340 lacasadelleacque@tiscali.it
Slow food – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_Food
Osho Leela – http://osholeela.uk/ – personal growth and meditation centre
Tao Centre Colwyn – http://www.healingtaobritain.com/ – QiGong, Nei Gong,Tai Chi, Meditation, Internal Alchemy, Bodywork, Tao Yoga and the Art of Everyday Living
Wwoof – https://www.wwoof.org.uk/
