Qhow long do we have to live? Asked which philosophers have evaded and religions moved indefinitely, answers science fiction: as much as possible, by any means. Nanosurgery, prostheses, transplants, human or artificial spare parts, stem cells, miracle pills and, in extreme cases, a pact with the devil.
From longevity to fullness
But Luciano De Crescenzo said: “The trouble is that men study how to lengthen life when it should be enlarged”. That is, shifting attention from longevity to fullness (interesting neologism to keep an eye on, composed of the English word full), from duration to fullness.
Fullgevityby Alessia Canfarini (Franco Angeli,) managing director of Zeta Service Consulting, with contributions from Sabrina Bresciani, life design expert, Elena Granata, professor of Urban Planning at the Milan Polytechnic and others, identifies four trend values: spiritual well-being moving up the priority list.
The need for harmony with nature; giving meaning to work but also to self-realization, for example, by resigning. Each of these phenomena corresponds to a keyword: Redesign, Reconnect, Rethink, Reread. Here are the four ways of fullness.
Longevity is no longer the value, full life is now important
First rule: redesign
One hundred years is almost guaranteed, today’s children could reach 140. The average life span in rich countries is growing (with a few steps backwards due to the pandemic and the uncertainties of war).
Rudi Westendorp, from the University of Leiden, confirms: “In the space of a century, life expectancy has risen from 40 to 80 years and the probability of reaching 65 has gone from 30 to 90 percent. Those born now will reach 135».
However, scientists do not say how to use the extra time: work? Travel? Have fun? Looking after the grandchildren, if any? In the words of the writer Susan Ertz: «Millions of people longing for immortality don’t know what to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon». Stefan Klein, famous for essay Immortality consider longevity an excellent thing, as long as it stimulates us to reshape work, study, school.
“Perfectly healthy 65-year-olds shouldn’t stop working just because they’re 65! We should become more flexible and leave the choice to individuals. One of the two determining factors of happiness is working as much as you want. It is absurd to require young people between 20 and 30 (especially women) to raise children and build a career at the same time. If we can be productive beyond 60, why not start careers at 35 or even 40? Of course it can be shocking…
Second rule: reconnect
What makes life meaningful? Connections with others. Research The good life by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz (Harvard University) just published, shows that the strength of relationships makes the difference. The Harvard Study of Adult Development it began in 1938, when researchers recruited 724 people who were followed from adolescence onwards.
Results in brief: if there is someone you can call in the middle of the night, if you don’t work at the weekend to dedicate yourself to the people you love, if you are not a slave to social media, if you prefer a phone call to a message, if you meet a friend /at least once a week, if you are capable of falling in love, your network of connections is ok, otherwise you have to work at it a bit.
He knows it well Lydia Ravera that in many ways, even with the necklace Third timefights for the fullness of female life at any age: «I made up my mind to reevaluate the years we’ve gained and that we certainly don’t want to spend alone in unadorned and dark rooms. Let’s decorate them, at least. Without legitimizing it, conquered time becomes a desert. As in Battiato’s song, “wishes almost never get old”. Change the language, of course, and change the look. We also meet on the basis of affinities and common ideas by doing, without knowing it, advodating: from advocate (supporting a cause) and dating (appointment). This too is a personal and spiritual way of staying connected to yourself, others and the world.”
Third rule: rethink
Applies to everything: the house, the space, the relationship with nature. What might be the appropriate “dose of trees”? A 2019 study, with nearly 20,000 participants in England, concluded that at least 120 minutes a week of recreational contact with nature produce well-being. The effect would be better with 200-300 minutes per week. It is not enough. The legendary Jean Nouvel, in the editorial Architecture and the (in)justice of time he provocatively wishes that the care of the spaces “be entrusted to therapists, psychologists, functional and aesthetic surgeons”.
The fullgevity-oriented redesign it also means not flooding space and time with useless objects, artifacts, structures. Leave empty spaces to reflect, create, share. «What is the difference between a vending machine and a sideboard with colorful cups, coffee, tea and infusions?» asks Canfarini. And he explains: «The sense of familiarity. What drives us to express ourselves in relation to others. A distributor is faster. But the best ideas are always born in the time of in-fusion».
Full life is one in which you feel that you belong to someone, to a place, a story, or more than one. The poem written by the Uruguayan pedagogue Roberto Abadie Soriano at the age of 92 becomes a hymn to fullness: «Healthy and orderly life/ A moderate diet/ Medicines almost never/ And try, if you can do it/ To get angry little or nothing/ Gymnastics and your passions/ Forget your worries/ Open air, lots of friends/ And a thousand occupations in your head».
Fullness, the fourth rule: re-read
Eric Bernefounder ofTransactional Analysisuse the expression Waiting for Santa Claus (wait for Santa Claus) for the attitude of waiting for someone to bring us happiness. We refer to “when I grow up”, “when I meet the right man”, “the kids will be grown up”, “I will retire”. Except then establish a new postponement. Waiting deprives us of the unique opportunity to experience limits and opportunities.
In the last two years there have been record resignations, many voluntary. The chaos of the pandemic has forced everyone to reassess priorities. We have taken something, leaving something else. “Let go”, “dan-sha-ri”, it is the Zen concept that refers to the essential.
«The things we accumulate are not just objects, clothes, trinkets that occupy our spaces» explains Cianfarini, but also tasks, beliefs, working conditions, segments of our life whose meaning we have lost and have become cumbersome. Ikigai, a Japanese word that translates as “the happiness of always being busy” indicates having a purpose, the reason we get up in the morning. That can also change.
Elena Granata says: «We come from a world that marked distinct times: studying and training, working and not having free time, then retirement to do something never done before. That world is over. Redesigning the seasons of life must be inspired by a new principle: there are no rigid phases, but “needs”. We need new balances. Let’s think of the great deception that women suffer: when you’re on maternity leave you dedicate yourself to your children, then you’ll go back to work. In 60 percent of cases this is not the case. We tell girls that “when they grow up” they will have to choose what to do. Rarely does our culture offer the model of a woman with children who works and writes books. A full life asks for everything, aspires to everything in the present». It doesn’t make us say “when I’m old I’ll travel”. This is fullgevity.
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