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Diary from the Italian Countryside, part 1 By Gianluigi Gugliermetto 3/13/2026 |
Last week, I moved to an old farmhouse that I am renovating. I decided that enough rooms were ready and enough comfort was available already. I chose this place three years ago, before a very serious illness. Perhaps I would not have chosen it now, as it feels quite isolated, almost like a
hermitage. |
The other day, I heard a car’s engine, and I immediately ran to the balcony, realizing that here “car” meant “stranger arriving,” for the only other sounds are those made by birds, insects, and the occasional agricultural machine. From my windows, I can see only cultivated hills and patches of woods, and some houses in the distance. My house is not alone, however. I live in a small village with a funny name. About twelve of us dwell here in the village permanently, |
Gianluigi Gugliermetto’s house. Photo by GG, used with permission. |
and there is probably space for at least 100 people, with generously-sized rooms. Most buildings therefore, are empty, while the smoke rising from chimneys and the smell of burnt wood mean “inhabited house.” I am curious to know the stories of these twelve people, but it’s too early to ask. In reality, I can get to a train station in 15 minutes by car, and from there in 70 minutes to Milan. Five minutes away by car are a pharmacy and a grocery store, as well as restaurants and cafés. I am by no means truly isolated. But it is something else to live in an old house with very thick
walls, brick vaults, and windows with old glass. Immersed in nature, plunged in an aquarel, and so necessarily attentive to the tiniest bodily sensation, to the faintest birth of a thought, to the smallest stirring of the soul. |
Deep peace: the view from the window of Gianluigi’s new house. Photo by GG, used with permission. | It is something else, especially because out there, chaos and war are raging. The world is seemingly falling apart. The ugliest humans are ruling. Was the international order always a lie? How long will evil reign? Is humanity going to survive this crisis? Like many of you, I am losing hope, or at least I am very cautious about it. But I feel that this house is calling me to a reset. I understand much better how my nervous system has been upset by the news cycle, and almost controlled by it. I want to reclaim my freedom and build a healthy mental and bodily routine. I want to create a place where visitors will feel
welcomed in a much more than |
formal way: welcomed, and heard, and challenged to become their better selves. The silence, the birds, the wooden stove, the views, the grass, the old stones, and the magnificent linden tree in front will do their job. That is now my hope. Is it a tiny hope? Or is it a hope tailored to my real
strengths, to my real capabilities? As Matthew Fox has reminded us, Thomas Aquinas said that the human soul is capax universi: that is, it is capable of containing the whole universe. I believe that strongly. I feel connected to all the people, and the animals, and the woods and waterfalls I met around the world. I feel connected to
the dead people whose books I have studied, and to their living thoughts. I feel connected to the people dying for the greed of others in Gaza and Iran and Israel, and everywhere, and to the people being born. But from now on, I will attempt to feel the universe from my tiny special spot where my soul has called and settled
me. |
Banner Image: The view from Gianluigi’s balcony. Photo by GG, used with permission. |
Queries for Contemplation What might it mean for you to have a hope “tailored to your capabilities”?
What do you think about a “reset”? How can silence help? |
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