Some of the most meaningful moments while traveling are never planned and I think its so important to have goals, but be open to the journey of how you reach the destination. This was the most unexpected conversation I have ever had, and it happened on my very first day in Baunei which is one of the Blue Zone villages in Sardinia. I remember sitting on the bus as it hugged the side of the mountain, stopping again and again because mountain goats had wandered into the road and refused to move. My eyes gazed out the window experiencing feelings of presence and excitement while I was looking out at this small village settled into the hills. There was also a feeling of uncertainty because I didn’t know a single person there on this journey and I just followed my heart and trusted in God that he would slowly reveal the answers to me.
Upon entering Baunei, I decided to grab lunch at a small bar in the center of town. As I ate, I talked with people about my dreams and my goals to see if they had any information that could lead me in the right direction. After lunch, I went downstairs and met a group of men in their early twenties. Most of the men only spoke Italian, but over drinks we got to know each other through laughter, google translate, and gestures.
After some time, one of the men name Giuliano told me I could meet his uncle. He was 85 years old and was born in 1940. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but soon we were all piled into a car I just had to trust that this was going to be something special. The smell of cigarettes and the sound of laughter filled the air as we listened to traditional Sardinian music as we drove along Baunei’s narrow and winding roads.
We parked and then walked into a small, dark room with a single window. The light from the single window shown through and landed directly on an elderly man sitting in his chair. This was Santi Tegas who is the last shoemaker in Baunei. His shop was filled with handmade shoes, leather bags, tools, and old photographs lining the walls. Everything felt preserved in time and I have never experienced anything like this. I couldn’t quite believe that I traveled all the way to Sardinia by myself and through trusting my heart and God that he led me to this little room up in the most beautiful village I have ever seen in the mountains to a man’s shop. Santi invited us to sit and my new friends helped translate what he was saying. It was a true group effort and I could not have done any of this without the guidance and help from this group of young men that will forever be my good friends.
I began my asking some questions, but Santi wanted to quickly jump right in about sharing his passions with me. He invited me to take pictures of the shoes, bags, tools all around the room. This man had so much energy and his soul was filled with so much life and passion that it was difficult to keep up with this man. He loved making women’s shoes and he eagerly showed me pair after pair and pulled out the tools he had used for decades to demonstrate how he made everything with his bare hands.
As a child, Santi worked in the mountains with his parents until he was fifteen years old. When he was 15 years old he began working in the same shop where we were standing in during this conversation. He told me how grateful he was for that opportunity to learn the art of becoming a shoemaker because he had been sick as a child and had paralysis in his leg and needed a different occupation because he could not longer work in the mountains. His nephew, Giuliano, showed me the leather bags Santi made for shepherds to carry while working in the fields. Santi also told me about the small leather toys he used to make for the children of Baunei. It was fascinating because behind everything Santi made there was a story, a purpose, tradition, and hard work. When I asked him what he loved most about his work, his answer was that he loved everything. He loved starting a piece, and he loved finishing it because he didn’t like leaving anything incomplete. He said the secret was to have a good eye because there was a lot of detail and style involved for creating purses, toys, bags, and most importantly, shoes.
Santi no longer works , but he sat in that shop as comfortably holding the tools and leather as if he was about to build another pair of shoes. He never married and never had children. This work was his lifelong purpose, and you could feel that in the way he spoke and the excitement he had with sharing his passion with all of us.
I find myself thinking about Santi often because he was grateful to find his purpose at such a young age and to spend his life mastering it. Watching him made me realize that his work itself was a form of meditation and movement. This is why I chose the quote from Blaise Pascal above. To sit alone in a room for seventy years, devoted to one craft, means you have undoubtedly confronted many of life’s problems and still lived with purpose. It takes a great deal of hard work and resilience to sit in the same shop for seventy years, focusing solely on your craft. Santi Tegas was full of life, purpose, and energy, and his story can inspire us all.
