During my last travels around the world, upon reencountering an image already familiar to my memories, a beautiful and unexpected insight allowed me to view from a new perspective the questions that, born of the awareness of my utter insignificance among Earth’s more than 8 billion inhabitants, keep popping like popcorn kernels inside my restless mind: the endless doubts I harbour about the value of dedicating myself to building this quiet website I call “my world”.
Anyone who has already been in Europe knows that one of the most characteristic features of the sceneries across its diverse regions is the flowers in the windows of the houses of those privileged enough to live there. From house to house, the flowers catch the eyes of passersby, and add colour to entire streets, neighbourhoods, cities, and countries, ultimately becoming symbols of an entire continent!
I have never spoken to a local resident to ask what drives them to place flowers in their windows, but I would bet the answer is as simple as “to decorate my house”.* I highly doubt that those citizens, as ordinary and unknown as I am, are motivated by anything other than a desire to beautify their own homes. Yet, I believe their days become even more colourful when they realise that, in some way, this personal habit has also helped comfort the eyes and, above all, the hearts of those passing by.
Since then, this is how I have come to view the posts I publish in this virtual universe that I build to take refuge from my reality: these are the flowers I place in my windows.
I do not mean to imply that the perceptions I share here possess even a minuscule fraction of the beauty found in European floral arrangements. I am well aware that, due to my complete lack of “gardening skills”, my “flowers” are at times washed-out, parched, withered, tattered, or even covered in thorns. Still, despite imperfect, they are absolutely, perhaps even brutally, authentic; and cultivating them is something I do for myself, in an attempt (albeit with questionable results) to adorn my tiny and insignificant corner of the world. Now, if they can somehow help a passerby feel a little less alone, then my own days will become more colourful, too.
*There are, actually, other explanations for the origin of the habit that eventually became a cultural tradition. However, since this isn’t a History website, I reserve myself the right to tell my stories the way that suits me best. 😇