I left Berlin for two weeks to go back home in Lecce, south of Italy, for the Christmas break. It was not an easy decision. It took me three tests, and with my parents an attitude to respect social distancing with no touching indoor for the first week. After the second test, we were a bit more relaxed. Out of the 15 days, my city – and Italy – had 10 days with the full lockdown.

These are the four living elements that I learnt to feel. Yes and, I will channel them through my work and attitude towards life happenings.

1. Spirituality is Creativity
   My parents house is in the old town. Normally, and specially during Christmas time, it is overcrowded of people, with pubs open until 3 AM. It is not easy to sleep. With this lockdown, the power of silence was staggering. I could practice again sitting meditation, cultivate a state of consciousness letting thoughts come and go. This creates space for new visualisations. This spirituality is the link to creativity. It means that questions arise, then curiosity with awareness and a sense of ownership to make a change with a small action. As small and silly as it might be, it might drag you to a different place, with serendipity, a purpose, a direction where you are really excited about.
   
   
2. The Art of Practicing
   My father, at the age of 78 years old and former math professor who retired 12 years ago, keeps practicing maths and algebra to keep his brain active during the lockdown. Practice means discipline. And discipline is a set of techniques to overcome shocks. You can apply this to improve your way to brush your teeth to write an article about your favourite topic. My father found his way to avoid downs through his craft.
   
   
   
   
3. Intergenerational Exchange
   The time spent with my family was a lot and it showed me the power of learning exchange. The elderly resilience. Parents are not just parents. They want and need to learn something new. An intergenerational exchange is about mindfulness. A new space to listen and support a direction with a sustainable future with knowledge and openness. Since I follow a whole grain plant based diet since 2017, my mother became vegetarian in 2018. My father eats meat once every ten days. This has been shifting because of constant sharing, conversations. On the other hand, with my mother, 75 yrs old, I learn yoga every two days and we spoke in English to nurture her passion for english. As a present I gave them not an object, T-shirts made of wood, but a dialogue about a sense of belonging through nature.
   
   
   
   
4. The importance of Crisis
   The word crisis come from the Greek κρίσις krisis ‘discrimination, decision, crisis’. The noun is derived from the verb κρίνω krinō, which means ‘distinguish, choose, decide’. This inspires spacing and clear decisions towards mindsets, ideas and actions, instead of being stagnant. Ditch what is not healthy, mentally and physically to your direction and impact at systemic level. We are facing a new environment that has been depicted under the acronym VUCA. I believe, as the globe is experiencing, the context fluctuates with high level of complexity, anxiety. VUCA versus BANI, read more here.

We live in a society that is about instant gratification, swift evaluation of people, their stories, values and effort. This paradigm needs to change. This crisis is another reminder of how nature is the teacher and not the other way around.