Non c’è niente da fare. La nostalgia fa parte di ognuno di noi. Anche le persone che si definiscono prive di questo sentimento finiscono, almeno una volta nella loro vita, a sentire il nostos omerico. Ovviamente non lo ammetteranno mai, ma quella sensazione di mancanza, di ricerca di qualcosa che si pensa perduto, la sentono anche loro.
Il ritorno dalle vacanze, ad esempio è portatore di questo sintomo. Il quale, crudele e infimo, induce gli animi più sensibili a rimettersi in discussione. Alcuni per capire il loro quotidiano, altri per comprendere il loro spazio nel mondo. Che poi forse sono la stessa cosa.
There's nothing to do with it. Nostalgia is part of each of us. Even the people who call themselves free of this feeling end up, at least once in their lives, feeling the homeric nostos. Obviously they will never admit it, but that feeling of lack, of searching for something that is thought lost, they too feel.
The return from vacation, for example, is the bearer of this symptom. Which, cruel and lowly, leads the most sensitive souls to question themselves again. Some to understand their daily life, others to understand their space in the world. Which then maybe they are the same thing.
Hunter S. Thompson
Com’è possibile debellare questo triste fardello? A volte i social network servono a qualcosa. Esistono diversi profili su Instagram i quali dispensano perle di saggezza dette da grandi uomini e donne della storia, antica e contemporanea. Il tutto corredato da splendide foto - ovviamente. Leggerle (sul serio, non limitandosi a dare il solito like) contribuisce a ridefinire se non la prospettiva globale, almeno la giornata. Qualche giorno fa _nitch posta in inglese la frase dello scrittore statunitense Hunter S. Thompson: «Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on... So it would seem foolish, would it not, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day? How could we ever hope to accomplish anything... The answer, then, must not deal with goals at all... We do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES. But don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean that we can’t BE firemen, bankers, or doctors...but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal... Beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living WITHIN that way of life.» Ci si sente meglio capendola, o no?
How can this sad burden be overcome? Sometimes social networks are useful for something. There are different profiles on Instagram which dispense pearls of wisdom said by great men and women of history, ancient and contemporary. All accompanied by beautiful photos - of course. Reading them (seriously, not merely giving the usual likes) helps to redefine if not the global perspective, at least the day. Some days ago _nitch placed the phrase of the American writer Hunter S. Thompson: «Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience . As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This is going on... I know it would seem foolish, it would not adjust to any of my goals. How could we ever hope to accomplish anything? The answer, then, must not deal with goals at all ... We do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES. But don’t misunderstand me. I don't mean that we can't be firemen, bankers, or doctors... but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual... Beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do with living that way of life.» Do we feel better understanding it, or not?
Noam Chomsky
Il livello di nostalgia, allora, dipende da come ci vediamo all’interno di questo mondo? Se, come dice S. Thompson imparassimo a essere veramente noi stessi, a vivere il nostro stile di vita e fare in modo che i nostri obiettivi non ci condizionino, ma, anzi, che li modellassimo secondo il nostro carattere e sapere, allora forse sì. Un’altra parola che viene in mente subito dopo è nichilismo e poi pessimismo; malinconia non fa rima con positività. Ma non è così che si va avanti, né come individui, né come comunità. Secondo il linguista Noam Chomsky, protagonista di un post di _nitch: «Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours.» L’ottimismo è il sale della vita.
So the level of nostalgia depends on how we see ourselves in this world? If, as S. Thompson says, we learned to truly be ourselves, to live our lifestyle and to make sure that our goals do not affect us, but rather that we model them according to our character and knowledge, then maybe yes . Another word that comes to mind immediately after is nihilism and then pessimism; melancholy does not rhyme with positivity. But this is not the way to go forward, neither as individuals nor as a community. According to the linguist Noam Chomsky, protagonist of a post on _nitch: «Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because you can't be better, it's unlikely you will take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there is a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours.» Optimism is the spice of life.
Gabriele D'Annunzio
I due signori hanno ragione. Eppure c’è del piacere nella nostalgia - più che nel pessimismo. È simile alla sensazione di un amore non corrisposto, o distante. O finito. E nonostante comporti cibo spazzatura e occhi pieni di lacrime, ci dà anche una sensazione dolce-amara allo stomaco, la quale fa subito dopo battere più veloce il cuore e ricordare. E non è forse anche questo il cibo della vita? Tra le tante frasi scritte da Gabriele D’Annunzio ne esiste una che fa percepire quanto possa essere bello provare questo sentimento: «Non so che darei per averti qui tra le mie braccia... Fuori il sole abbaglia; si sente il rumore del mare; in un vaso i gigli mandano un profumo acutissimo spirando; le cortine dei balconi ondeggiano come vele in un naviglio. Io ti chiamo, ti chiamo, ti chiamo.» L’insistenza del poeta è enfatizzata dalla scrittrice Margaret Mazzantini, la cui penna può concludere perfettamente il pensiero di come essere nostalgici non significhi rimanere seduti a pensare al passato. In Splendore (Mondadori) scrive: «L’amore, lo sapevo fin troppo bene, si nutre di bocconi tirati quando meno te lo aspetti, è la nostalgia sotto i denti che ti fa resistere.» E resistenza sia.
The two gentlemen are right. And yet there is pleasure in nostalgia - more than in pessimism. It is similar to the feeling of unrequited or distant love. O ended. And although it involves junk food and eyes full of tears, it also gives us a sweet-bitter feeling in the stomach, which immediately makes the heart beat faster and remember. And isn't this also the food of life? Among the many phrases written by Gabriele D’Annunzio there is one that makes you feel how good it can be to feel this feeling: «I don't know what I would give to have you here in my arms... Outside the sun dazzles; you can hear the sound of the sea; in a vase the lilies send a very sharp perfume while blowing; the curtains of the balconies sway like sails in a ship. I'll call you, I'll call you, I'll call you.» The poet's insistence is emphasized by the writer Margaret Mazzantini, whose pen can perfectly conclude the thought of how being nostalgic does not mean sitting and thinking about the past. In Splendore (Mondadori) she writes: «Love, I knew it too well, it feeds on drawn morsels when you least expect it, it is nostalgia under your teeth that makes you resist.» And resistance will be.
Margaret Mazzantini
