Once upon a time, people used to say, "I'll finish work and go enjoy a bench in the park." Now, the working age has been extended, and after retirement, the need for a second job is generally combined with the now unsustainable crisis, and the mirage of a bench is fading.
And instead, the famous bench should be conquered before, as soon as possible, the end of working age. Because that bench belongs to each of us and to everyone, it is a symbol of a good quality of individual and collective life, is a totem, a symbolic object, of resistance to the wretched frenzy of our daily lives which translates into a waste of time, health, relationships and affections. Therefore, the bench is a flag to be conquered on the Do Not Waste front, the flag of a new lifestyle.
On a bench you rest, of course, you rediscover the importance and value of lost things, from slowness to silence, from the attentive gaze to the emotion of the sound of a bird or the scent of a flower. On the bench you listen. Our narcissismOur self-absorption continually distances us from others: instead, all it takes is a seat, even for a few minutes, and our ears can listen. And we become aware of the humanity around us: on a bench, we look deeply, within ourselves and towards others. The bench extends and accompanies thoughts, it takes us far away with our heads and maybe even with a dream. Therefore, it opens up spaces, visions, horizons.
Then there's the bench that belongs to everyone, to the community. A dear friend of mine bought one in Central Park in New York, a form of adoption, and I confess I envy him. Obviously, the bench isn't his, but a plaque reminds us that he restored it and is responsible for caring for it, which is why he's forced to frequent it, visit it, and enjoy it. Many of us should do this to protect benches, not just as street furniture, but as bastions of civilization, as places of finally profound and not evanescent thought. And We should urge public administrations to involve associations and citizen groups in arranging, maintaining, and protecting park benches. Everywhere, like the trees.
Finally, the bench, metaphorically, recalls the coach's work to unite the team. The "We" prevails over the "I." We lack good coaches, especially considering the squalor of our political class, and sometimes we've lost the joy and desire to play together. And we move forward in a haphazard fashion, with the risk, however, that in the end, no one wins and we all lose. Teamwork, with a good coach, can make the difference and lead us to reach goals that would be unattainable even by combining our individual strengths. And work also includes rest, with its importance.
Read also:
- Bosco di San Francesco, a green oasis to discover silence and nature.
- What is silence good for?
- Sites that help you discover silence
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