Americans are obsessed with being busy.
We eat in our cars.
We answer emails during dinner.
We brag about working ourselves into exhaustion as if it’s some kind of achievement.
Then I visited Valencia.
My former au pair lives there now, so instead of seeing the city through the eyes of a tourist, I got to experience it through the eyes of someone who actually calls it home.
And one of the first things I noticed was that life seemed to happen differently there.
Dinner wasn’t rushed.
In fact, dinner often didn’t even start until many Americans were already winding down for the night.
Families gathered together.
Friends lingered over meals.
Conversations stretched on for hours.
Nobody seemed to be checking the clock every five minutes.
One evening, we sat along the waterfront eating paella and fresh seafood while the Mediterranean rolled in beside us.
The food was incredible.
But what caught my attention wasn’t what was on the table.
It was what was happening around it.
At 10 o’clock at night, kids were still rollerblading along the waterfront.
Families were still walking together.
Grandparents sat on benches talking.
Parents pushed strollers.
Teenagers gathered with friends.
The beaches and promenades were alive.
Not with tourists.
With people living their lives.
And nobody seemed stressed about it.
Nobody was rushing home to collapse on the couch before another workday.
Nobody looked like they were trying to squeeze an entire life into the few hours left after work.
They were simply living.
Outside.
Together.
As I watched families enjoying a warm evening by the water long after sunset, I found myself wondering when so many Americans stopped doing that.
When did “being busy” become more important than being present?
When did we decide that productivity was more valuable than community?
When did exhaustion become something to brag about?
Valencia isn’t perfect.
No place is.
But for a few days, I got a glimpse of a different way of living.
A way that seemed to place a higher value on family, friendship, conversation, and simply enjoying the moment.
Maybe that’s easier when your dinner doesn’t come from a drive-thru window.
Maybe it’s easier when the weather cooperates.
Or maybe they’ve figured out something we’ve forgotten.
Life isn’t what happens between work obligations.
Life is the thing we’re supposed to be making time for.
Scarlett says no.
Not to hard work.
But to the idea that being constantly busy is the same thing as living.