2024

“But my predominant feeling is gratitude. I loved and I was loved; I was given much, and I gave something in return […] but above all else, I was a sentient being, a thinking animal on this beautiful planet: and this has been a great privilege and a huge adventure.” In 2014, after receiving a dire diagnosis, Oliver Sacks wrote a brief essay titled My Own Life, later included in the enlightening collection Gratitude, to bid farewell to life peacefully, praising and thanking it: grateful for the beauty of the world and for having been a part of it.

 

The reflections of the great British neurologist inspired me to choose gratitude as the theme for the 21st edition of the Festival della Mente. Nowadays this concept is often overlooked: we live in a society marked by resentment, restlessness, and confusion. To look towards the future with hope, it is essential to “embrace life” with charis, a Greek word that means “joy” and “gratitude,” as Luigina Mortari will discuss in the opening lecture.

At the first multidisciplinary festival dedicated to creativity and the birth of ideas, the speakers will explore gratitude in various ways, helping us face the many social, environmental, and economic challenges of our time with optimism and awareness. This will also help us to understand ourselves and find our place in the world, while opening ourselves to others and the world around us.

 

Therefore, I would like to extend my thanks to the promoters – Fondazione Carispezia with president Andrea Corradino and the Municipality of Sarzana with mayor Cristina Ponzanelli – for believing in the festival as a generator of ideas, content, and inspiration. Thanks also to the staff, collaborators, volunteers, and speakers for their passion and professionalism in contributing to the event's success. And thank you to the audience, a community united by the sharing of knowledge, a fundamental asset for developing individual critical thinking and promoting collective awareness.