Walk around some areas of Central London on a weekday and you will notice the alpha male and female. They are the people who give the impression of being extremely important and are so preoccupied with their own office sanctuaries that they resemble robots for whom it is a badge of honor to be busy, over-worked and stressed out. I often wonder what happiness is for them. We live in a society where who you are is no longer determined by who you are as a person but by what you do and what you have. London is becoming a city for the rich and powerful and, as a result, it runs the risk of losing its soul -- that much-needed balance that every big city needs. It is as if Central London is a place solely for those who are exceedingly and ostentatiously wealthy.
I was recently having dinner with a friend of mine, a successful lawyer in her early 30s. You could call her an alpha female. She works every hour of the day till she burns out, and she refuses to date outside her social circle. She also would not go out with someone who earned less than her and is still single, but that is not the issue. The point is that love is becoming a transaction. Love should be the one thing that is not defined by age, race, boundaries, and definitely not by a price tag. Unfortunately, for some alpha people, this is no longer the case. Love for them has a price tag and the status of their other half is just as important as having chemistry or a connection. Madness, yet very true.
Giuseppe and me -- he is a local fisherman from Giardini Naxos
On a recent trip to Sicily, I met a local fisherman in the beautiful seaside resort of Giardini Naxos, which is situated next to famous Taormina. This man, Giuseppe, taught me a lot about happiness in his simplicity and in his unconditional love for the sea, for his part of the world, for his job and for his family. He made me see that life is so much simpler and happier, the less we obsess about what we want to achieve or possess or become. Maybe all these robotic people whom one meets around some parts of London just need to be a little less self-centered. Perhaps employers need to loosen up and create happy working environments where human beings can learn to respect and admire each other for who they are as people. Wherever one meets people, one should have the feeling of meeting another human being, not a "banker" or a "Buddhist," for example, because then, there are differences, which are secondary, but if we leave these differences aside, we could all communicate, exchange ideas and share experiences feeling at ease and creating a simple and direct connection with a fellow human being.
My friend and I had a very special moment with Giuseppe the fisherman on a Saturday night in Giardini Naxos, after I finished filming him on his boat. He invited us out for a few beers and taught us a few life lessons. He told us that happiness is appreciating what you already have, not yearning for what you don't. He was not preaching to us or telling us how to live our lives. He was just being himself; humble, wise, extremely sharp and with the confidence of a man of the sea. He lives with a sense of fulfillment and a serenity that are very uncommon. These are not qualities that he had set out to achieve; he just had them. He loves the sea and loves being a fisherman, as a result, he is utterly powerful, charismatic, and paradoxically, he truly is what an alpha male should be. To meet him, watch the video above.