Respect

Respect comes from a particular look. What starts from the heart, what is capable of building spaces in which the other finds opportunities to feel like a person, and therefore to flourish. A space of peace. This is why the object of the gaze is truly special, because it is not an object of conquest, but of promotion. The origin of the word is the Latin verb "spector", the meaning of which is obviously to look. Its special nuance of meaning is looking long. Do not mislead the word mirror, precisely because when this object was baptized in this way, it was so opaque that it required, in fact, that we look inside it for a long time. Respect requires spending time to be born: you cannot improvise as experts in respect. But then it also becomes a personal gain. In fact, it is reasonable to expect respect in return, and furthermore, by looking long, one acquires knowledge of others and humanity. From a game of looks to a game of power: this is what happens when looking becomes looking at oneself and respect for oneself becomes taking measures of one's own respectability with all due respect to others. A beautiful word that has been disfigured and is always waiting to be released.

Fabio Arduini
NP may 2021