People of my age will remember this film that had great success in the legendary 80s. I came back to my mind making some reflections on the present time that we are living, a historical period that is questioning many certainties, many certainties, and many habits that, up to now, we have believed were obvious.

Let’s face it, we have all been clouded by the speed of the rhythms of everyday life, by the sharing of existences, real or presumed, on all kinds of social networks, by the difficulty of understanding what was sustainable today, not only for us but also for our planet. The collapse of the Earth system is there for all to see, although, for a strange removal mechanism, it seems to me that most of us pretend not to understand the gravity of the bioclimatic situation.

And here is an unpredictable variable – I say it without any fatalism and without naming it – it is in fact questioning everything, anything, in any sector. Today we are no longer free to do the most trivial things, such as going to the cinema, playing sports or visiting a museum. We are no longer free to travel where we want and we cannot relate to others without having a few clear rules that must be respected. Our personal freedom has diminished to ensure, we hope, the best possible outcome of the ongoing crisis.

I want to think that the most serious crises can always have a positive implication: in this situation I would like each of us to slow down and reflect on life, on what is really important and on how superfluous it is for us and for others. We have probably designed a system that is giving important signs of slowing down, let’s take note of it.

We happen to spend more time at home, inviting friends we really want to hang out with. And even with all the necessary attention, we realize how much relationships can change if you have to make choices, if you can’t meet everyone, as you did before. Giving importance to friendships, being aware of the value of time, dedicating one’s energies to what is truly relevant, we believe are the most beautiful aspects of a difficult moment.

Spending more time at home also makes you appreciate what you have built, makes you look at the spaces with a different eye, you analyze them with greater care, paying attention that you usually don’t have. Because the house is truly our refuge, the place where we return after a trip, where we spend evenings alone, perhaps reading a book we are passionate about, or in company, sharing a glass of wine.

The balance of global production, of the handling of goods, of the way we travel and live will probably have to be reviewed; we will probably have to reinvent a future that we cannot even imagine today. I don’t know if to do this we will be forced – at least ideally – to go back to the past, as in the film “Back to the future”, but I have the feeling that this setback will make us return more human. And the house will be, more than ever, the center of our life.

Leonardo (but in the photo it’s Michele!)