Distance

This word, which smells of bitterness, on the contrary deserves redemption. It is above all the fault of the adjective distant, in its current use, if the meaning of distance remains attached to it, suffered and perhaps even wanted by one of the people involved. But precisely in comparison with the distance our word reveals itself: the first in fact underlines the drama of separation indefinitely, in all its pain, while distance expresses first of all the relationship between two, A and B, or even C etc. That is, it describes not a tragic situation, but a condition to be assessed. A condition that can also be the starting point for subsequent developments; or on the other hand being the most beneficial situation (when distance protects).

To measure is the twin word of distance, while it is oblivious to the concept of distance. The great journeys are extreme examples of the difference between the two words, in other words: between going far to fortune and undertaking a project by covering distances.


Fabio Arduini
NP February 2022