Last week I was hacked, I felt left out, I felt like a ghost locked inside a mirror and who just wanted to communicate with the outside world.

But I've also learned valuable things from the experience, I learned not to take steemit for granted, and I discovered the huge value of community feeling the support of many of my fellow steemians as I was stuck behind a locked door.

I learned that sometimes it takes an adversity to realize what you have lost, but that also it takes an adversity to make us come together.

And on that note, the story I want to share with you today, is an epic story of a real-life community that achieved what nobody else did, an exploit that one could say with almost all certainty - as you will shortly see - made them win this crazy beautiful game called life.

In the Name of the Rose

Across the pages of the best-selling book “Oultiers” reads the story of a mysterious little town, Roseto;Pennsylvania, a town that made health professionals nation-wide consider both relocation and career change.

Naturally, I did my due diligence on the subject, and I reshaped the text in my own storytelling way, hoping to bring you an inspiring story in a more humorous tone. While the style is intended to be more entertaining, the authenticity of the story however remains absolutely intact.

So without further ado, here goes our story, about a truly inspiring real-life community that managed to play beyond the realms of modern science defying the rules of logic and society.

In The Valley Of the Roses

Up until the 1960s, Roseto, Pennsylvania was the only town in the entire United States that hadn’t registered a single case of heart disease, the number one cause of death in America. Not only that but all deaths were virtually exclusive to old age, there were also no suicides, no drug addictions, nor alcoholism.

Or so goes the story.

It was one of America’s best kept secrets at the time, but then one day, the word was finally out, and from then it was only a matter of time until the most immediate question became:

What the hell is going on over there?

So a group of doctors and dietitians embarked in a four weeks journey to get a close view at the health miracle that is soon to be the example to follow for the entire nation.

The Mind Works in Mysterious Ways

Now, when you hear the words “Disease-free”, what’s the first thing you would think of? Diet and exercise wouldn’t you agree?

It’s easy to guess what the dietitians were expecting before arriving to Roseto: Some sort of sport based community, a lot of hiking, a lot of biking, two-wheelers at every turn, and most important of all, an equilibrated diet with fruits, nuts, and lots of veggies.

Try Again!

You see, the Rosetans ate all the wrong foods, had soaring rates of obesity and smoking, breathed toxic fumes from working in the factories, cholesterol was off the charts, and get this: Forty percent of their calories came directly from fat.

And since the majority of the town’s inhabitants were from Italian descent, their diet was obviously composed by a lot of pasta, a lot of pizza, which in Pennsylvania was composed by mostly bread dough plus sausage, pepperoni, salami, ham and sometimes eggs. And as you’d expect they kept most of the usual suspect ingredients of the infamous “Mediterranean diet”.

One thing is sure, the Rosetans did not shy away from using all the "forbidden" fats.

Oh, and there was also olive oil. Lots and lots of olive oil.

Keep in mind, olive oil back then wasn’t considered as a health food, all the contrary in fact. As in exercise was concerned, the answer was very simple: What exercise?

The only exercise was the daily commute to the factory, the common place work of most community members, a place to which they walked five times a week in their typical slow pace.

The only other form of exercise was probably the nightly stroll between neighbors’ homes for the hearty dinner parties, a common theme in the community almost every day of the week.

And yet somehow were totally protected against heart disease. Coincidence? Black magic? Alternate universe maybe? Nobody knows. Or maybe just one laughter a day keeps the doctor away. That's what I'd like to believe anyways.

Times of Wine and Roses

As in health strategies were concerned, Rosetans kept it simple, they had no 12-steps plan, no calorie counting machines, no hot Yoga, no Flex-belts with 27 functions… Hell, they didn’t even have 'magical' Açaí smoothies that make you lose 4 pounds of fat, gain 3 pounds of muscle, and enlarges your penis a couple of inches every month.

Nothing of the sort. In fact nobody even seemed to care about these things.

Over there you sleep late, share some laughs with you friends, and enjoy delicious food in good company. That’s all there was to it. You learn to walk slowly and kiss slower.

As if you were living in a place forgotten by time.

Oh, and there was also wine. Lots and lots of wine.

Needless to say, from the dietitians’ perspective, it was mind boggling to say the least. The absence of major diseases in the town went against everything they stood for... Get fit and eat right were the two commandments of a healthy life.

The definition of ‘right’ of course depends on which fast food giant funds which type of research, but on general terms, they weren’t too far from the truth.

Imagine their surprise when they realized that a large percentage of the Rosetans were in fact obese, had high rates of smoking, suffered from high cholesterol, aside from a poorly designed diet and a complete and utter lack of exercise..

All the surveys they have previously read and all the beliefs they previously held were suddenly fair game. Their mind boggled. The contradictions stockpiling. Their cognitive dissonance started sending red flares to the ocean. It was as if they were unknowing surprise guests in a strange episode of The Twilight Zone.

Searching for a Game Changer

Plan B, the doctors and dietitians retrieved and in their place a team of sociologists and psychoanalysts arrived in town.

But here’s the thing, before even beginning to access the psychological aspect of things, the researchers with the blessing of the mayor of Roseto, decided to study everyone in town. They collected blood samples, monitored what everyone consumed, and basically analyzed their lifestyles.

Researchers then poured over every death certificate and interviewed every single person in town. After spending several years in roseto they finally had their answer.

What they found is something that I will never forget.

The Roseto Effect

The year was 1961, and it was the height of the heart disease epidemic in the U.S.
In the community breaths an air of solidarity and support, infused with the lingering demeanor of the ineffaceable care-free nature of Southern Europe.

And by care-free, I mean really care-free.

Nobody seemed to have unhealthy obsessions, nor hold big worries. I guess the best way to describe it is that they had less fears than other parts of the country, there was no fear judgment, no fear of inadequacy…

And the same was true for their children as well. In their schools there seemed to be no signs of the cruel phenomena that is bullying and labeling: That’s the geek, here’s the freak…

To them they were all normal kids, they were just Mike and Sonny and Fredo.

Sorry wrong movie.

"There was no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and very little crime. They didn't have anyone on welfare. Then we looked at peptic ulcers. They didn't have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. That's it." - Reported sociologist John Bruhn.

Deep down it was as if everybody knew that if something big were to happen to them, then the entire close-knit community would immediately rally around them to help, no questions asked.

And they of course, would do the same for their friends.

The doctors then realized that there was in fact a direct correlation between mind and body. And that state of mind of solidarity and confidence, proved itself to be kryptonite to the dreadful mind plague named stress.

As we all know, stress probably won’t kill you, but it would bring your defenses down.

Matter of fact, the Roseto effect findings helped to establish that stress can directly contribute to heart disease. The sad part however, is that no one seemed to follow their example.

Moral of the story.

Community is one of the most underestimated life enhancers and force multipliers there is in life, when I was hacked I felt as if I was being left outside. I couldn’t share my thoughts with you guys, I couldn’t comment or appreciate anyone’s work. Hell, I couldn’t even answer the kind replies that I was receiving.

Luckily, choosing to see the bright side of things helped me realize that we do have a great little community here in steemit, and I really hope that we can make it blossom into a beautiful one.

When I was hacked for exemple, my friend Gabe @piedpiper helped me give a proper voice to my unsung story. So if you’re reading this, thanks Gabe!

Ironically, as I write this community-themed post, trying to thank Gabe in the process, I remember that he’s actually building a real life physical community in one of the best parts of Chile. If you haven’t checked Fort Galt yet, check it out, you might find what you’re looking for.

And finally, thanks for all the kind words and comments I received the other day, and that unfortunately was not able answer back then.

From the alien with love.

Thank you!

P.S: Let’s build something beautiful!