Mariella Gattini

This year is a complete unknown to me. Everyone is in the same boat, whether we admit it or not. We simply have no idea what the future holds for ourselves or for anyone else. Most of us behave as if we knew, and for that reason, we keep doing the same thing expecting different results, which, of course, never works.

My heart is heavy with chagrin for having wasted so much time trusting others, the ones trapped on the surface, waiting for them to wake up and see what is really happening around them—life is fleeting, it’s slipping through our hands. There is no time to not live the best we can, right now.

I do question my own pursuit of happiness. In all truth, I don’t know what happiness means anymore. When I was a little girl it was simple—I was going to be completely happy when I grew up, ever after.

When I became an adult I not only became acquainted with my own limitations, but also with everyone else’s. Still, I had this optimism in my head that pushed me forward thinking that with a lot of effort, a sense of humor, hard work, and much, much love I was going to be able to overcome all odds and achieve my dream of being the bearer of good news.

Now that I’m older my limitations are not longer an obstacle to me, but I don’t know what happiness is anymore.

Happiness is not longer what it was. I don’t know what it really means—some days it’s just another word used in greetings cards, or one that encapsulates all my little comforts. I not longer keep in my mind this illusion of ever after. Nevertheless, I keep going forward with energy and hope because somehow my brain has infinite ways to create pathways for new beginnings. In complete desperation, having nowhere to go, trapped in my skull, the dendrites in my brain are connecting with other neurons. The new ones, recently born, are giving me another opportunity, one far needed, one that I have been waiting for for so long. My brain is flourishing again, it is helping me, like never before, to feel more comfortable in my own body.

This new body and this new brain are helping me create a new way to keep going, being one more in the crowd, but not alone anymore.

Everyone else, just like me, is out there figuring out who they are and where to go from here. This ridiculous vindictive political atmosphere grows every day in greed, stupidity, and deception. We hear random and outrageous statements that seem to come from headless chickens walking in every direction with no aim.

Not knowing what the future holds is a deep source of fear, insecurity, and anxiety. For protection people tend to keep doing the only thing they know, hoping for a miracle. They close their eyes, pray, and give their power away, while life passes them by, leaving them behind, vulnerable to all kinds of scams.

I choose to open my eyes, look for new ways to relate and to relay knowledge to others, hoping that they notice their power to take their own lives by the horns so they can grow with the times to come. To have an open heart to be able to receive the love that’s around, and to be strong enough to keep hatred at bay. Vigilant, not fearful, strong, not intransigent, flexible enough to withstand the storms ahead, and especially vibrant, with a contagious energy that can lift others from their dormant stage and help them come back to life.

I understand that what I just said can be a little impractical for the ones filled with anger, stress, and hatred. How can you want the best for everyone when you are living in hell?

But it’s for that very same reason—because nobody wants to live in hell, and in the same way you use your brain to get into that state, you can modulate it into a different tune. One that gives you the opportunity to be the best you can be, achieving a high level of well-being.

After all, we have this one life that is there for us to keep as long as we can because it is worth it.

For this year, and all the ones to come, I wish you the best in this necessary exploration of your mind, where only you can find the answers for your own well-being and that of those around you. Our minds are deep and strong; they can take us places beyond the surface and the mundane, and connect us with what is really important—the core value of our existence.

We are not here to accumulate money, we are here to keep the rhythm of our nature, which is to always create, build, invent, connect, relate, and finally relay all that knowledge to those to come.

What we create can not be summarized in an infinite stream of data that nobody has time to read. What we are able to create stays forever in our minds and in that of those around us without the help of memory or memory-aids, because creativity is a natural state that remains with us as long as we live.

Don’t evade reality, on the contrary, be aware of the extraordinary opportunity you have in front of you to turn things around for the better, in favor of your own well-being and growth, and those of humanity at large.

Don’t evade, be aware of the love around, keep hatred at bay, and, for your own sake, don’t let your life pass you by.