To celebrate the first anniversary of the Efesto Fundation no book could be more appropriate to represent the spirit.
Dear Filippo, let ‘s start from the end. You wrote a very meaningful sentence: ‘…now this book closes in our hands, the hope is that, opening in yours, it will offer new insights, valuable suggestions and inspirations for growing beauty and awareness in life…’
This book is an authentic ode to human sharing, a concept representing the very essence of our Foundation: Beauty belongs to everyone and it grows when exchanged and shared. Through its pages, we dive into the realisation that beauty goes far beyond outward appearances; it lies in the feeling, the emotions and the bonds we cultivate. Like a river in flood, the author talks about himself, answering questions from scientific director Carla Gagliardi. his words overwhelm us and transport us on a journey of reflection and inspiration. Beauty, for us, is a serious, profound and powerful matter: something to be recognised, nurtured and protected in our lives and in our relationships.
The book is a four-handed work with co-author Elena, a six-month long dialogue about my and her daughter’s blindness. Together we explored how, despite the difficulties that often challenge our faith in the beauty of life, one can turn pain into hope, fragility into strength, and darkness into light.
We truly feel we are in the house of Efesto a place where even pain can reveal the beauty of our ability to heal, grow and transform. To accept our limitations and imperfections is a daily, universal exercise. of our limitations and imperfections is a daily, universal exercise. And when we talk to Filippo, we discover a profound truth:
despite his blindness he really can ‘ see beyond’ because of an inner willingness and extraordinary open-mindedness.
Between the pages,arises his touching comparison with Lake Maggiore where Elena lives, seen in a dark evening, a tranquil lake whose flat water reminds him of the lid of a piano. A language between connoisseurs, which doesn’t hide the difficulties: the challenge of finding sheet music in Braille, the moment when his hands rest on the keyboard, everything quiets down inside him. The body opens to sensations, the heart to emotions, the mind to imagination.
The book explores each sense with both lightness and depth, even finding space for an ode to tomato that follows intense chapters dedicated to gratitude, made into grace. It’s a collective invitation to get even more involved in creating and preserving a world where beauty can flourish. Beauty is a precious good, to be protected: through it we preserve our humanity, our sense of wonder and our connection to the world and people around us.
