2021 was also an unforgettable year.
This year, following the infamous 2020, gives us a teaching: this period will still last for some time, however it seems that the way out has been taken.
So how much longer? Difficult to say and the most realistic predictions about the end of the pandemic are still uncertain. In accepting this condition of uncertainty we should equip ourselves with more patience.
Becoming more patient means increasing your ability to bear waiting. Patience to be understood as tolerance and understanding and not as resignation and renunciation. Patience as a positive attitude towards becoming. Patience as a synonym of tenacity and hardening. Patience as a virtue.
In a figurative and fairy-tale logic, patience is represented by the helper, one of the positive characters, who transmits confidence and energy to the protagonist, helping him in his mission.
Or, to draw inspiration from the Christian tradition, patience seen on a par with the figure of the guardian angel, as a messenger who accompanies and protects the person to face life's difficulties and adversities.
For the 2022 greeting I take inspiration from the painting "Allegory of Patience" by Camillo Filippi and Bastianino (Sebastiano Filippi) (1553-54, Estense Gallery, Modena) which depicts a standing maiden, with her ankle chained to a rock. The woman's gaze is directed to a vase that stands on the rock, patiently waiting for the slow dripping of the water from the vase to corrode the underlying rock, leading to liberation from the chain.
The inscription at the top of the painting "svpiranda omnis fortvna” (complete version of Virgil “superanda omnis fortuna wounding est”) means “Patience wins over bad luck”.
