Future
A beautiful imposing tree, one of three seen from my bedroom window, is now sprouting tightly-furled buds. Leaf cycles are a continuing process that repeats every year. A slow pace that renews following the change in the seasons.
In the very same days our lives come to halt facing one of the world’s biggest challenges. Suddenly, a great part of the world population find themselves living a life made of a slow rhythm that repeats itself every day.
Many people have to cope with an increasing level of stress and anxiety. Others live the change as an opportunity to transform their forced isolation in internal time, and many feel a strong sense of belonging and its consoling powers.
Everyone has been experiencing a certain level of solitude. And solitude is a state that allows to amplify the knowledge without the pressure of the time. Regaining the inner time of consciousness means taking on an existential challenge which involves our idea of the future.
The fragility of the present seems to lay the foundations for a more conscious future, which takes us beyond our limited spaces and fences.
Our thoughts have time to settle, breath, and flourish like flowers in spring. This is happening nevertheless. If we do not notice it, if we are no longer used to it, and even if we do not want it.
A seed has been planted inside each of us, and it will mark our future. For some consciously, and for others unintentionally.
Rational planning for the future has been considered an essential part of our lives. In the emergency, this planning is betrayed by a future that unfolds as it likes.
The future has now become an empty and unknown container usually filled with projects, dates, goals. We are not allowed any longer to fill it with anything but with intentions and ideas concerning ourselves, and the relationship we have with others and with the nature. To fill it with an idea of life and the essence of ourselves.
The rhythm of the present is shaping our future. We are experiencing a more intense and profound idea of it. The future is perceived the way it should be: uncertain. And we are called to regain the confidence with the mystery and the unexpected.
The feeling is that the future has never been so present. The challenge is not to miss what the ancient Greeks called kairos. The right time for opportunities and inner creativity.
What does 'future' mean to you? Tell us in the comments below...
Marta Bastianini Badano is a lawyer, foreign language teacher, yoga enthusiast and nature lover. Her work in the private sector was followed by work on human rights issues in an international context. She enjoys to listen to people's stories, to write, and to read and reread quality picture books. She grew up by the sea in Italy. She lives in London.
