Having just passed the 35 years milestone I wonder what will be the second half of life. I like to look at the faces of these people encountered along my walk and think that the best has yet to come. Why not?
Same as growing older, my walking project should be a praise of slowness, attention, and kindness. Just think of the name itself, Adagio. To use the definition of my favourite Italian dictionary, Una Parola al Giorno:
Adagio: it is a word of sweet spirit. It paints a calm, relaxed, stress-free slowness. As an adverb, it gives the verb a serene nuance, and gives the sentences a rather high and detached tone: we think of walking adagio (=slowly), of inviting to go adagio with insults.
It also has nice nuances of caution: let’s think about the progressing adagio in the parking lot, or the adagio (=gentle) handling of precious ceramics.
Similarly, in music, the adagio becomes a measure of time, able to transmit a quiet yet not slow pace in a solemn way.
