How long does illusion last?
I asked myself this question. And I gave myself an answer: exactly 53 seconds.
That’s the time it took me to learn about the ranking of television subjects selected by the Italian Ministry of Culture – Cinema Section.
I downloaded the file with the classification, in .pdf format. I opened it.
Only then did I discover, while scrolling through the TV series titles and authors’ names, whether or not I had won first place in the ranking.
First place indeed? Certainly. Because I usually play to win.
To tell the truth, I never play. And I despise gambling.
The game I’m referring to is the game of life, with its power struggles, great hopes, small heartbeats.
I never liked losing. Just as I have never humiliated an opponent I managed to defeat.
I have a mentality for teamwork, yet I feel pain and joy in a solitary way. Intimate. Personal.
I also feel illusion as personal. Intimate. Difficult to communicate.
The Time of Illusions
What are the 53 seconds of illusions? And, above all, what are they?
Here’s a list in five points:
53 seconds is the time you lose yourself in the idea of having won the prize for best story, before discovering who is really first in the ranking
53 seconds is the time you imagine having had the brilliant idea against injustices, before discovering who won
53 seconds is the time you hope to have a front-row seat in that restaurant by the sea, before sitting down with the person you love
53 seconds is the time you sense that she will enter through that door to tell you the truth about the mysterious case
53 seconds is the time you dream that certain love phrases – on a chat lost among many – are directed precisely at you, before discovering who the real recipient is
“Battles are never lost. They are won”
The phrase by Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known as “El Che,” has always pleased me. In fact, it truly touched my heart.
“Battles are never lost. They are won,” this was the phrase of the Argentine revolutionary.
I expressed it, many years ago, to a person I loved very much. And who also inspired my theory of 53 seconds.
The question is inevitable: illusion lasts 53 seconds. And after?
The 53 seconds are the time that passes from searching for the truth about something we care about above all else… and the verdict, the truth, the revelation.
One point is decisive: whether we win or lose in the end. Whether we arrive first in the ranking or not. Whether the loved person’s song is for us or not… all this is not fundamental.
What is fundamental are those 53 seconds in which we savor victory, first place, the declaration of love.
Those 53 seconds cannot be taken away from us by anyone.
“At the appearance of truth, you, wretched one, fell: and with your hand showed from afar cold death and a naked tomb”
So writes Giacomo Leopardi in the canto “To Silvia,” composed in April 1828, in Pisa.
The poet Leopardi, whom I have always adored, speaks to us about the fall of illusions, in the poetry inspired by Teresa Fattorini, the young woman who lived near him, in Recanati (Macerata).
Giacomo Leopardi affirms a substantial truth. But there is a metaphysical truth that opens us to new horizons.
Stealing Our 53 Seconds Is Impossible
Illusions crumble. We all know this well.
No one, however, can take away from us the 53 seconds in which illusions are still standing.
Those illusions animate our life. They give substance to our day.
They are like intoxication. Or sudden joy.
They are like happiness that gives us chills; or causes us a special kind of crying. No one can take them away from us.
At a certain point, however, illusion falls.
We are at the 54th second – that of revelation – and often disappointment, defeat, discouragement are our companions.
Well, even there, no one and nothing can deprive us of the memory of those 53 seconds.
Because those 53 seconds are our Olympic gold.
Afterwards we can fall, puff, get back up, fall, lose again. But on a certain day, at a certain hour, in some place, we had our 53 seconds.
The problem, if anything, is managing the second after. Number 54.
And here falls the most insidious question. How do you manage the awakening after the fall of illusions?
Maurizio F. Corte
(Part 1 – to be continued)
- Maurizio F. Corte, professional journalist, media writer and media educator, is adjunct professor of Intercultural Communication in the Media at the Intercultural Studies Center of the University of Verona and educational coordinator of the Master’s in Intercultural Competence and Management
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