We are living in strange times, absolutely singular.
Below are some photographs of Mesagne's streets, the city where I was born. Today is the 16th of March 2020.
We are living in the time of the coronavirus or Covid-19.
Surely, there will be a reason, which I do not yet know.
The coronavirus makes us think. It makes me think. It makes us review our lifestyle, our daily routine, our relationships, the sense of family, our choices, and our spirituality. Everything outside has stopped.
This epochal transition forces us to reflect.
What we call 'disease' puts our existence in crisis, to the point of not being able to 'be close to others,' momentarily due to fear of contagion, but also to activate a sense of responsibility.
Will we emerge from this time of deprivation more aware, rediscovering the taste for life, for sociality, for freedom?
Not being able to stand next to each other hurts humanity and afflicts our relationships. We discover a completely new and unknown era.
What is the point of this disease?
Everything is connected.
Is sickness and death a punishment? Will hope help us? Will it help us to be more responsible? Faith?
Perhaps we have reached a very important moment in history where it becomes urgent to renew ourselves internally, to finally discover what is essential in our lives, what gives us joy, serenity, and peace, to have more trust in humanity. Seneca once wrote, "We live as we should always live, forgetting how fragile we are."
We've always felt like gods, we do. Then, a virus is enough to bring us back to reality and to reflect on the meaning of life. Let's use this moment to grow, to re-establish contact with ourselves and mother nature.
"To stop" is no longer a choice. It is a must.
Everything is still, immobile.
We have shattered our illusions that have always prevented us from raising our eyes to the sky, looking at the stars, nature, filling us with serenity, feeling the sun warm us, breathing the mountain air, listening to the sound of the sea, talking to our children, looking them in the eye, loving them... We find ourselves afraid, when we look at our tiny presence on this planet that we almost destroyed, thinking we are immortal.
Our obligation to the planet is mutual.
But how can we know if we have forgotten about ourselves? We surely are not well.
Will this period be needed to reflect and change?
"My streets.... from which I have removed the colour of life."
