I sent this out to some friends today. I hope anyone who reads this has experienced this blessing, as well.
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On Splendid Table on NPR today, they interviewed Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones. It is a book about four different areas of the world where people live into their 100s. Some of it is the usual advice of which we’re all aware: get your rest, eat your veggies, stay active, etc. But the concept that particularly captured my attention was from one of the "Blue Zones" in Okinawa, Japan. There they have had a tradition of raising children within support groups called "moai." From a young age, children are put together in groups of five or so. As they grow up, these children, and later adults, are always there for each other, through success, failure, heartbreak, and all the rest that life tends to throw at us. The author talked about groups of women who "Even at age 100, they're all getting together in their moai … at 5 o'clock every day. They sit around, they drink a couple glasses of sake, they gossip, they talk about sex. If one doesn't show up to the afternoon gathering, the other four sort of hobble over to see if she's fallen down or if she needs help."
I immediately thought of our moai - our pack that has taken us through the past (gasp) thirty-some years of classes, dorms, apartments, boyfriends, break-ups, weddings, husbands, houses, kids, step-kids, jobs, and so many other frustrations and joys. I’m pretty sure that if I didn’t show up somewhere, either at a gathering, or if I just didn’t pop up on email for a while, you ladies would come looking for me. That’s a nice thing to know, and it gives me a lot of security and courage.
I try to eat right, get some fresh air, reduce stress, and do all the other things that one is supposed to do to increase the odds of living a long life. And I have my moai. That alone has got to be worth a few extra decades, doncha’ think?
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