Uncertainty is the worst of all evils, until the moment when reality makes us miss it. (Alphonse Karr)

A habit I noticed during my time abroad is that we Italians generally complain too much. Maybe even with good reason, but too often. We often complain so much that we forget to "do." Or we lose the heart to "do" something. Anything. And others beat us to it.

The hardest part of "doing" is starting. Once you have started, everything is easier. Begin, and you will be on the right road.

We live in difficult times. My personal definition of success is managing to do something, even something small, with what you have, in the time you live in. We cannot always wait for better times, because that is just a fantasy. We have to create the "better time" ourselves.

And yet these uncertain times, these situations so poor economically and even in artistic stimulation, are often the forge of the best ideas.

There are underground drives, real human activities and relationships that answer an almost innate need to express oneself and to do what one truly wants to do. Passion: that is the workshop of creativity.

It is also thanks to these uncertain times that our talents shine. If the game is too easy, the players have no real motivation. But if the game is gripping, both teams want to win, and that is when every player is pushed to do their best, to invent a goal out of nothing.

When I think of Matisse, blind and bedridden, stubbornly painting on the ceiling with a long pole, I get chills. He was fighting his illness and still could not help expressing himself by painting.