Last men (and women) standing?

This week of Crete was a pure bliss. Yes, not having to work (now, when do I really ever have to work?) and being alone with Marjeta was great, of course, but the Crete itself did the magic. We rented a 4×4 and headed off to the West and the South of it, as far as possible from the tourist places. And I fell in love with the real Balkan spirit again.

It seems to me that places like Crete are the last posts of rebellion against the commercial monster that is eating up the planet. People here still have not surrendered completely and have not yet became humble slaves to the almighty master – the profit. The simple juices of life still matter more. Much more.

My heart was smiling over and over again when looking at those beautiful people, not giving a damn about the shiny spectrum of the modern infatuations. Playing their own game, retaining aliveness and their own, slow pace of living.

And the dignity, oh their magical dignity. Just looking at the simple people nurtures my soul, to see how they shine in their pure beauty and without any of the attributes of Men’s Health and Cosmopolitan etc. Just their pure dignity and beauty. Being the ancient centres of the universe, softly proud, peaceful, stabile. And among them us from the north-west, nervous, rachitic, pale and pink, hysterical, neurotic, worried just about everything, running here and there, seeking something, trying to reach someplace… We are trying to catch the life while they are letting the life to slowly pass through them.

And the last but not the least: what almost shocks me every single time in Greece, particularly in Crete, is their sincere endeavour to help you build upon and retain your own dignity. They cooperate with you to help you feel OK too. Even police officers will try to help you not feel stupid, but on an equal ground.

Now, this is a true dignity. When you are so sovereign that not only you do not have any sort of a need to put other people down, but when you want to lift them up. Just so that you can sit with them together, drink a coffee, smile, enjoy life and observe the sunset.

OH, there’s so much to grieve over when thinking about the true spirit of the Balkans.