Esserci

When you’re fully present

I had a boss who would say “The only difference between us and other animals is our ability to visualize and plan a different future”, and I completely agree with him. We’re able to change our futures (or we think we’re able to do it). Nonetheless, the thing is: we can see beyond what’s in front of us. But this is also a problem…

If you put “esserci” in Google Translate, you’ll get “be there”. This is not a word; it’s a concept, a representation. To “be there” it’s to be present at the moment.

When we work with human beings, we don’t work only with their skills. There’s “noise” in the middle. And by “noise”, I mean there’s a context, a background on and in the person that you’re talking with. They’ll be there not for you but for what the envisioned for then, for their future — this amazing thing that only humans can see.

But what if we silenced this context? What if we could, oh damn, be there? What if esserci?

Esserci is this ability to silence the future, the next meeting, what are we going to dinner, to turn down the phone (with “Don’t Disturb” on), so by doing this we can hear what someone is telling us without saying “I’m sorry, what?”. If you can do this, be there, esserci, you’ll listen, not hear; you’ll question, not ask; you’ll act, not react; you’ll lead, not be led. And you’ll realize that there’s someone else in the room (or Zoom 😅).

So give it a try. Be there, fully present.

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