Happy New Year!

Here we are finally in the new year!! As it almost always seems to happen in December, we are eager to put behind us the memories of the months just passed, hoping that the new year will bring us positive gifts and new projects to undertake. We are filed with good intentions and optimism illuminates the first hours of the new year. All of us have our own dreams, more or less secret, that we hope to finally make come true, and even the worst news, that we are bombarded with every day, is put into perspective at the moment we toast to the new year at midnight. My thoughts go out to those suffering, to those alone who don’t have anyone to celebrate with, to those far away who can’t celebrate with friends, and to those working to guarantee the safety and health of others. To all, I wish you a special year, in which our dreams can come true, in harmony with those around us and with those that we encounter along our path, giving and receiving the love that we all deserve.

Many Lights

The eve of Christmas: a magical moment where everything seems to stop after all the frantic days just past. Finally we have time to look around, rediscover our smiles and exchange warm wishes for the future that all of us hope is peaceful and full of dreams. It is the most mystic moment of the year, where you put aside for a moment all your tension and worries, to enjoy the special few hours before midnight. With our thoughts we return to childhood, to Christmas Eves of our youth, waiting for Christmas with all our hopes and wishes. We rediscover our desire for simple things, smells and forgotten flavours. And then: it is finally Christmas. I wish all of you a special night, illuminated with thousands of lights, for a Christmas full of peace and serenity shared with those you love.

Long Weekend

Finally a few days of relaxation! After an intense period of presentations and events, we just wanted a weekend break in nature, before resuming next week with the usual hectic pace of other important appointments and rich in meaning where I speak.....looking to center myself to face the next few days before Christmas, although this year the atmosphere can’t really be called gay. The crisis affects everyone and there is an obvious concern about reports that come into our homes and that lead to inevitable changes in the lifestyle of each of us. But as always happens, every negative situation also has its positive side: we'll be at home more, to enjoy the company of our loved ones, and we will dedicate the time to rediscover the Christmas holidays with moments of simplicity, often forgotten for so long. Teaching the little ones to having fun with little while we all learn to appreciate the essentials and to rediscover the value of small things, just as we learn from the desert.

Smiles and happiness

How much positive energy there was at the recent evening book presentations! Both at Cenate Sotto, where the whole town came to celebrate their most famous citizen, Fabio, and at Treviso. At Cenate, the Palaincentro was filled with a welcoming audience who were touched to hear our voices telling the story from the book-on-tape to begin the evening, which ended with a unique poetry reading of the love of Catullo accompanied by musicians. In Treviso rather, the event, was organized in an impeccable manner with photography of the expedition by Renato Vettorato, that joined the book presentation and the inauguration of the photography show, very carefully planned and superb quality, showing Fabio and I in the Egyptian desert. There was also the presence of the radio, television and many photographers. The restaurant “Perchè” hosted us to a wonderful dinner, where sponsors competed to offer the 200 guests their best products, accompanied with very high quality wines. The atmosphere inspired by the desert, with sand decoration, was extremely refined and the public was very interested in both in my expeditions and in the Desert Therapy trips. At the end of the evening we had a unforgettable toast opening a giant bottle of champaign made just for the event: the bottle was the color of sand and the beautiful label was an image of us in the desert.

Evening in Fossano

Yesterday evening in the picturesque setting of the Castle Fossano Acaja there was a new presentation of the latest book LOOKING BEYOND THE DUNES written with Fabio.
Bruna Stecca, organizer of the meeting and a dear friend, was a person who has traveled the world and has twice participated in our travels Desert Therapy: together we both walked in the desert of Morocco and then in Corsica. A great lover of literature, her enthusiasm made yesterday’s meeting in Fossano very special. The room was full and the audience fascinated by the story of my last adventure with Fabio, who this time was unable to be present to describe "his" desert. The audience saw pictures of the crossing and had many questions addressed to me at the end of the meeting, which extended well beyond the agreed time. Many were also curious to learn more about our travels and Max explained in detail all the features of Desert Therapy. The evening ended with a final toast of course dedicated to the Desert!

Despite everything......

It is difficult to be calm in moments like these, when uncertainty surrounds you. Every day the news overwhelms us with tragedy, without a doubt true, but often manipulated to make the stories more dramatic. It seems that all is going to waste, we are always waiting for new developments in the world of politics and in everyday life. Around you see only sad faces, no one smiles, everyone seems enclosed in their thoughts, not wanting to communicate with others. And it is the circumstances like this that we need to have the courage to overlook, to open ourselves to others, with a kind gesture, a word, a smile… In the desert it happens naturally, each time: let’s try to make this happen also here, letting our thoughts become positive, our hearts light, our faces less tense and distant. Certainly we can’t change the course of events, but we will feel better, ready to face everyday life with more trust and calmness. As the desert teaches us, the great mystery of life.

What an evening!

There are no words to describe the presentation of the book that was held last night at the marvelous theater at the Institute for the Blind, filled with many people who wanted to come, to show Fabio and I their friendship and support.
There were many friends from Desert Therapy coming from all over Italy bringing their testimony of the trips and becoming emotional retelling of their unforgettable experiences together in the desert.
Fabio described his experience with words that touched the hearts of all present and hearing the recording of our voices on the book-on-tape with the lights in the room turned off was a very moving moment. Wonderful as always Maurizio di Maggio, the voice of Radio Montecarlo, made the audience laugh and applaud, and then gather around us for dedicated copies of the book. It was an unforgettable evening, organized very professionally by Max and documented by Oscar, the official photographer. The desert once again gave us moments of magic that will remain in the minds of all.