The importance of everyday life

Perhaps, in the face of the whims of the powerful of the world, with reckless decisions on the global stage and the short-sightedness of refusing to see the chasms of ongoing wars and social injustices, a persistent thought rises in the soul: focus on our everyday life, which is largely our life itself. To see what can be done, abandoning the spectator posture, perhaps too absorbed in more or less sensible comments, more or less careless about everything else happening around us, bouncing from news item to news item at a relentless pace.

Undoubtedly, one cannot live isolated, confined within one’s own matters. We are all interconnected. And what happens before our eyes, now engulfed by networks and digital platforms, cannot be ignored. Meanwhile, it must be decoded with care. And, as far as possible, it must be taken into account, because it brings consequences far and wide, without boundaries or closed fences. Certainly, in the face of the bullies of the moment, one must equip oneself with strong and courageous convictions, especially from the ground up. Naturally, it remains necessary to understand well what is invading our days, saturated by online life. But there is ordinary life – let’s call it that – which deserves some priority. Because daily reality is not optional; it is our existence, realized in the folds of family life, in daily relationships, and in not wasting, in the sharing of concrete things. Here we can grasp a dedication that is human added value, building every day a positive, perhaps encouraging dimension, despite everything.

There is also a spiritual aspect, subtle, not to be overlooked, because it can turn into prayer that instills trust or into a handful of inner reflections that help to better see the horizon. There are the labors of work (for those who have it), the worries of fragile health, the presences of vulnerability among us, in homes, sometimes in solitude and in anxieties that weigh. There are communities of belonging in which to be present and offer help. There are the marginalized, taking the face of the homeless who call for at least a somewhat inclusive glance in the spirit of human community. Encounters with people along streets and within situations that demand a change of pace… There are the spaces, more or less limited, of free time, in which to regenerate. There are many segments of daily life where one can rise to the occasion. Within a sort of mission that traces ordinary steps, infused with genuine humanity. Conscious that all this, from the ground up, tastes of authentic life… perhaps offering a different perspective on the macro events that the media pour upon us, with all that weighs as misleading ballast.

NP May 2025
Corrado Avagnina