With the beginning of a new year comes the dreams of “Better.” We all desire this picture of a better this or better that. Most want it to fall into our lap, myself included. What dawns on me is that wanting it to happen to me isn’t really how it works. We have to be the better to have the better.
By Luca Dimatteo
Why am I rambling on?
Let’s take a look at our environment. The news relays opinionated discourse, people are so eager to tread over each other, and there is a general ilk of distrust in the air. Lockdowns, riots, political mayhem, and a planet fighting back for its survival. And yet we wake up in a new year hoping for “Better.”
The truth is that a better world is not going to happen without each of us taking a piece of the pie and sharing with others. “Better” will only occur when we decide to work together and are not at odds with one another.
Just ask: “Is what we’re doing working?” If we can honestly answer yes, then we are lost.
I’m not suggesting world change. I’m suggesting people change. There is a difference. How each of us sees the tiny part of life we live in and how we create within that community is how we will get out of this rut.
How we see and treat our neighbors and our community is where the dream of “Better” begins.
The other day, I drove to the grocery store and heard three horns angrily honking, a parking space fought over, and a near fistfight over moving a shopping cart in an aisle. This madness has to end.
A final thought. The end of the dinosaur occurred because of a catastrophic event, an ice age. Others believe that a meteor caused the demise of the dinosaurs. Either way, it may have been a message sent by our planet telling us that it has ultimate control. Could our planet be sending us messages again? Violent weather, volcanoes erupting, tsunamis, a giant meteor close to earth-if we don’t course-correct will planet Earth do it for us? It was here long before us, and it may well be here long after us.
We have a choice to make, and time is ticking away. Changing how we see what is directly in front of us is the true beginning of “Better.” Believing that making the smallest space around us “Better” is the beginning.
“Better,” reality or a dream.
Luca DiMatteo believes that the written word is not an escape, it’s an adventure.
He was a doctor for over 25 years before retiring. He has spent many years working in and around nursing homes. In addition, he has co-founded two personal growth organizations, had his own column and has been published in magazines and newsletters. Luca has been published in Pressenza, The New Haven Register and Aspire magazine. He is a member of the Connecticut Author’s and Publisher’s Association. Throughout his life, he has stayed close to the written word and has found a way to make it part of everything he does.
Writing Green Haven, a novel came to him in a dream. According to the author, the story, and its characters became alive. It was as if they were telling the story to him. He admits he couldn’t type fast enough and often went late into the night trying to catch up.
“Stories are pathways leading to great journeys. And journeys are what make up our lives. So, pick as many pathways as you can and enjoy just as many journeys.”
What lies ahead for Luca is his second, third and fourth novels (currently underway) and his co-hosting of a podcast series entitled The Author’s Way.
