The importance of levity

Welcome back my philosophers,

today we talk about lightness. Obviously we won’t talk about the extra kilogramms we have to lose after the holidays. Our theme will be the way we approach to the  concreteness and heaviness of the real. Work, family, friends, the gym: how much do they influence us and in which way?

How much are we influenced by the concreteness of the reality?

Personally I think that even if the reality may be difficult, heavy and unpredictable, the awareness of the real doesn’t necessarily contrast with a way of approaching it in a “light” way. After all the Italian writer Italo Calvino loved to say:

“Take life lightly, that levity is not superficiality, but gliding on things from above, not having boulders on the heart”. (taken from “American Lessons”)

What do you think of Calvino’s words? But what can we do if the boulders on the heart are too heavy to keep you from gliding?

How can we lighten our and the others’ hearts?

Maria Domenica Depalo