Memories of My Mother: Grace and Kindness

My mother and I in Piazzale degli Eroi, Rome

Today is mother's day, another celebration so exploited by this consumerist culture. Yet for me, transplanted from the other side of the Atlantic, this day brings so many sour-sweet memories.

I remember my mother for her great teachings of grace, kindness and compassion. In this day I have memories of my childhood in a place in times long gone: Roma of the 1960s. The world, so different now, is often associated it with the narratives of Italian movies from that time, in the city which was beautifully portrayed by Fellini and Antonioni. Going through photos of my mother, makes me so nostalgic, sad but peaceful.

Au revoir, mamma.

Logic + Ethics - 1

7 Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen.
7 Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.
7 Su cio' di cui non si puo' parlare, si deve tacere
Ludwig Wittgenstein "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus" (1921)


This morning I woke up with memories of propositions from the "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus", one of the most important texts I always referred to in different stages of my life, in different contexts.

Metaphor has always been part of my way of thinking and perhaps, even living...What really stayed in the back of my mind is how proposition 7 of the Tractatus explains so much of the mess in our life...not just about meta-physics, but also about we relates to each other. Lack of communication creates confusion and misunderstanding ---and it is not about religion. It is about interpersonal communications in general. And unfortunately has become the dominating business model, increasing profit by not communicating clearly the terms of the agreement.

Well I will be better continuing with my day, since I do not make a living by thinking, but...is logic merging into ethics? :-)