Wellness Wednesday–Ciao from Italy!

It’s midnight in Italy–the start of a new day, Wednesday! We’re on our way to Venice after spending time in Lake Como, Milan, and a small town in Tuscany–Marginone–the birthplace of my maternal grandmother who was born in 1898. While here in Tuscany, we’ve visited a few other towns and cities, including Florence and Lucca. What diverse living styles we’ve experienced between country and city life! Italy is a mixture of modern living and antiquity.

As the younger generations make their way in the world, they are faced with the challenges of how to hold on to their customs and traditions while adopting the lifestyle of our modern technological world. Like people in so many other places in the world, these younger Italians must cope with a faster paced way of living. The question on my mind today is whether or not they can live in this fast-paced world while hanging on to the quality–and integrity–of their traditional lifestyle.

My Italian family lives in the country where they grow and raise most of their own food. What they don’t produce themselves, they usually get from a neighbor or local business. They know exactly how something was raised and by whom. I learned from them that they do not really trust what they eat when they go to one of the larger cities. They are aware that food is being produced in ways which are not necessarily good for the animals or the people. Fast food can be found in Italy (although not to the extent we find it in the U.S), and the Italians believe it is contributing to obesity and other health issues.

I hope their strong culture will help them find ways to integrate modern technologies without giving up the purity and richness of the past. Maybe those of us who are nostalgic for a lifestyle rich in antiquity can even inspire the Italians and other similar cultures in finding ways to move forward without sacrificing that abundance.

And…Maggio abbiamo tutti salute e felicità. (May we all have health and happiness.)

Arrividerci!