Have you heard of the Blue Zones?
A decade ago, Dan Buettner published his findings from a trip around the world studying these places marked “The Blue Zones” that rank the highest in density of centenarians in a book of the same name.
This year he’s back with a deeper dive, in a four episode docu-series over on Netflix called “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones” and a book called “The Blue Zones Secrets to Living Longer: Lessons from the Healthiest Places on Earth.”
The topline?
These five places stand above all others for producing more folks who live to 100: Okinawa, Japan; Ikaria, Greece; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California, USA.
And Buettner does a great job on this new pass in getting into some of the more intriguing lessons he missed the first time.
They include:
Move naturally: do things by hand, garden, walk.
Outlook: unwind, faith, purpose.
Eat wisely: plant-based, wine, moderation.
Connect: family-first, partnership, and right tribe.
Just because he says over and over that these are surprising findings that the average person does not know, I’m not convinced any of us are surprised.
Here’s my hot take
I think Buettner underestimates the impact of the unique constraints of each place to result in longer life.
What do I mean by this?
Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that we would all prefer to embed movement and whole foods into our day by living on a picturesque seaside mountain.
But most people live a few hundred miles from where they went to high school.
And we all understand that movement is better for us. We simply are not willing to live so far outside of social norms, so we knowingly choose gym visits and supplements as the best we can do in our non-blue zones.
He also does not acknowledge the predominant mindset that I’ve come across in hundreds of people that Y’ALL DON’T WANT TO LIVE TO 100.
Seeing folks this age is not aspirational
You see living that long as wholly unpleasant.
And I don’t think the films will change your mind on this front.
Perhaps the cowboy from Costa Rica who is 100 and still very active.
The other folks we meet from age 80 to 102 are not living in bodies that look comfortable. Or eating foods that look delicious.
Please correct me if I’m wrong and you’re willing to eat meals made solely of mashed purple sweet potato!
I think the main distinction I see between Buettner’s vision and mine is that I want to live knowing I might age to 100 and crafting those aging years to be more vibrant than what he presents is possible.
I view Mary Oliver’s writing as sacred: “I know, you never intended to be in this world. But you’re in it all the same. So why not get started immediately.”
Most of us are not going to get to 70 and take our own lives. Admit it.
So we might as well get to work making the best of the world as it is now so that we’re not feeling like shit later.
We are the result of accretion
Many many small choices that don’t even feel like choices add up to a life.
There is a great strategy lesson here between reporting the themes from research versus imagining a whole new future bespoke to you.
By blending in what we are learning about the human body, his “Live to 100” wheel of insights would likely double to include the things that best help us overcome the natural human tendency to know the right thing to do, and yet not do it. (Akrasia, as the Greeks call it and I wrote about in March)
My biggest gripe with the series is that Buettner never mentions going to the toilet or sex. Just daily movement and partnership.
None of the cultures explored in The Blue Zones are open-minded about sex. But abundant research now shows a lot of mental health and physical health benefits from sex and masturbation.
Since these are two of the most powerful human drives, they represent the largest opportunity for innovation.
For example, my takeaway would be to design bathrooms that are both difficult to get to (think climbing to a treehouse) paired with a squatting toilet. Our western “squatty potties” are a start, but lack the placement of natural body weight into the hips. If we could get over ourselves and admit the squat toilet is empirically better for humans, where might we end up?
If we decided that sex was as important as eating, we’d schedule our days differently.
Examine today’s constraints to a robust 100
If you haven’t read Adam Morgan and Mark Barden’s book, A Beautiful Constraint, they argue that it is the limitations that create the most creative of solutions.
For example, “Live to 100” idolizes the small community safety nets that Okinawans create called moais, essentially small clubs of people who meet regularly and pool money together to support each other in times of need. It’s the “Go Fund Me” of their particular time.
I think this learning is apparent in current research and could be thought of as a creative springboard by doing a better job of observing the present constraints.
Johan Hari interviewed the top 200 experts in anxiety and depression and wrote a book called Lost Connections where he reveals that some of the best results have come from prescribing community gardening to groups of afflicted people rather than pills.
“Right Tribe” is a springboard that must be seen through modern constraints. We may not be motivated to connect with our physical neighbors. Instead, we can leverage the benefits of our newly connected world to figure out who our right tribe is, no matter where we live.
I was inspired to create opportunities for Project 100 members to get together in person in the future. My right tribe are those of you nodding your heads, realizing that robust choices are a creative endeavor best approached together. If you’re keen to join me for a digital detox in California, hit reply and let me know.
If you watch Live to 100, please share your own reflections.
If you know someone you’d like to age robustly rather than frail, please hit share. For everyone else, don’t tell them!
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