3 cities, 3 exhibitions and one big lesson: stop and live

Barcelona, Milan, L'Aquila:

3 exhibitions at the same time and I....

almost don't even realize another dream come true.

At 16 I fall in love with Art thanks to the massive presence of graffiti in my hometown, Sesto San Giovanni (MI).

At 23, I move to London with the idea of becoming an artist.

But I fail miserably.

I abandon my dream, and with it a piece of my life.

I feel totally lost.

And I go into severe depression.

I don't come out of it for more than 10 years.

Years pass, my 3 children are born.

I become a coach.

I move to Spain with my family.

Everything goes great.

But I end up in the hospital with a brain problem.

Sitting in the waiting room for yet another test, I wonder if I had lived the life I really aspired to live.

And the answer is NO.

I lived a rich and full life, but I have the regret that I didn't really try with art.

That moment changed everything.

The days in the hospital changed everything.

That brain problem was the turning point.

Two years later, November 2024, my paintings are exhibited simultaneously in Barcelona, Milan and L'Aquila.

A solo show, a group show with internationally renowned artists and an exhibition part of a larger project on the effect of colors on health, relationships and behavior.

Lots of stuff in short!

But I almost don't realize it.

Because I run.

I run too much.

Not even signed one painting am I already painting the next.

Not even started an exhibition am I already planning the next one.

Because getting to the finish line has become an obsession.

Being productive has become an obsession.

Not wasting time has become an obsession.

So you know what I say to you?

That all this talk about productivity, commitment, hard work ... is solemn bullshit.

What's the point of producing producing producing--if we never stop to enjoy what we create?

What is the point of running hither and thither, if then every moment we experience is just a stepping stone to the next moment?

Our society has taught us to be productive, to want more and more, and to desire great achievements but ...

Perhaps those who made the rules forgot to tell us that life is also about enjoying every moment.

To savor the beauty of what we create, to be captivated by the power of what we are experiencing.

When I was in the hospital my biggest regret was that I didn't really try with art.

And when I get to the end of the Path, no matter what, I won't have that regret.

But I don't want to have the regret of not having enjoyed anything I created.

That would be the same as not having lived a single day.

As human beings, our nature is half physical and half spiritual, but living on the material plane, it is easy to get unbalanced toward achieving material goals.

And that's perfectly fine!

I don't know why Souls incarnate in bodies, but if we have a body it is also to enjoy all that a body can enjoy, including the goals we set for ourselves.

The problem arises when we get so caught up in achieving our goals that we forget the reasons why we started, which are 99 percent spirtual reasons.

To leave a mark of our passage, to make this world a little better than we found it, to fully express what our true nature is... all things inspired by our spirit precisely.

But when we don't give ourselves time to savor and enjoy what we create, our spirit suffers and slowly contracts, and we feel it in the form of passion leaving us.

And, in the long run, this leads us to abandon our dreams, and settle for living a mediocre life.

As I did when, in London, I gave up art.

It sounds cliché, but enjoying the journey is the only thing that really gives our lives meaning.

And to enjoy the journey, sometimes you really need to slow down.

To stop and savor that small accomplishment, that moment of joy, that little step forward.

Knowing that the Path is made of small steps, and that the only thing we have certainty about is the step we are living, because tomorrow we may have no more steps ahead of us.

Let us not forget to celebrate each step.

Let us not forget to celebrate life.

Challenge the ordinary, embrace the unusual. Always.

Emanuele