On creating my own "Blue Zone"

My Sabbatical Adventure to a Happier, Healthier Life

If I had any doubts that I did the right thing by taking a sabbatical, watching Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones reassured me that I am on the right track.  Blue Zones are areas of the world where people live substantially longer than average.  The Blue Zones boast of having the world's highest number of centenarians.   In Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, a Netflix series about these unique regions of the world, Dan Buettner discusses commonalities he finds that may contribute to the prolonged life span of these areas.  One of the major commonalities is the sense of community found in these Blue Zones. 

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When people ask me why I am taking time off and moving to South Carolina, one of the things I say is that I am moving so I can be near my parents.  This is a gross oversimplification. 

My parents are very independent and would never want me to take care of them, but I know they are healthier when they are near me.  Yes, I am constantly lecturing them about what to eat and to go out and exercise, but the true health benefits of being near family are outside the facts I've learned from my career as a PA.

For example,  when I lived near my dad in the past, my dad cooked delicious South Indian foods regularly.  When he lives alone, he and my mother typically cook quick meals for themselves or eat out.  In fact, when my dad was living alone in Michigan he was on a "Mcdonald's Chicken Sandwich Diet".  He prided himself on the protein and low cost of this meal. Needless to say, this supersize-me-like experiment did not go well.  

On the other hand, if he is cooking for my sister and me, he will take time to make nutritious meals from our homeland of Kerala, India.  Not only does this provide healthy food for our family, but this also creates a sense of purpose for my retired father.   He carefully sits on the floor and churns out fresh coconut flakes using an old-school coconut grater.   He gathers fresh spices and grinds them.  Cooking Indian food is an extensive art, from growing the little curry tree inside our kitchen to carefully ensuring the dry spices cook to just the right temperature.  The time that my father would otherwise be spent watching television is spent in the kitchen.  

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The old-school style coconut grater my parents use to get fresh coconut flakes

When we are in close proximity, my mom and I will listen to podcasts like Afford Anything or Suze Orman together.  She tries to convince me to invest in I-bonds or long-term care while we dip biscotti into our morning coffee.  I'll pull up charts or articles from Google and we discuss the facts. She's processing all these little details.  We love organizing our finances and learning together.  

Photo by Esther Kontny on Unsplash

Their contributions enhance my life.  In Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, Dan Buettner talks about how when older people feel they are needed they live longer. Dan Buettner discusses the concept of "ikigai" in the Blue Zone Okinawa, Japan.  This ikigai reflects the strong sense of purpose the Okinawan centenarians feel.  The increased sense of community is also associated with a longer lifespan.  Being Indian, I come from a culture where community and family are centerpieces in a person's life.  

I'm not trying to completely disregard an individualistic society like the American society.  I love being American and I would choose it over and over again.  Individualism is what allows people to come here with twenty dollars and become a millionaire.  Individualism is what is allowing me to take a sabbatical in the first place.  Capitalism and consumerism create jobs with such high incomes.  My freedom to choose how to spend that excess income is what allowed me to save for my sabbatical.  A country that since its inception, was built by immigrants seeking to create drastic change in their lives, the United States is the place made for people who like to sit in the driver's seat of their life.

However, we have to recognize where our individualistic society falls short.  In our emphasis on finding purpose through work, we have engineered aspects of community and healthy living out of our lives. Being a PA in family medicine, made this glaringly apparent to me.  Being busy and stressed prevents people from eating healthy, exercising, and spending time with their loved ones.  Seasons can be busy and stressful.  Our entire lives should not be.  It does have a negative impact on our healthspans. 

And darling, our disease is the same one as the trees
Unaware that they've been living in a forest

-Vampire Weekend

In an ideal world, society's policies and culture would help naturally build these aspects of health into our daily lives.  This is true of the Blue Zones, where community, exercise etc. are natural parts of daily life.  I do think eventually our government will make efforts to create policies that create a healthy society, but we are not passive agents who have to wait for these changes to become mainstream.  We have to recognize the patterns that are not working for us and make changes accordingly.  

My sabbatical is my attempt to deliberately create more health and happiness in my existence.  It is me using the individualistic society's emphasis on sitting in the driver's seat to deliberately insert the collectivist benefits of community and purpose into my own life. We have the ability to steer our lives toward increased happiness and longevity. Are we going to make that choice?

Photo by Arnaud Mesureur on Unsplash