Crossing the small Alda Merini bridge on the Naviglio Grande in Milan, I came across another display of the ‘tradition’ where couples write or engrave their names, initials, or significant dates on a padlock, lock it onto a bridge railing, fence etc. at a scenic spot, and toss the key into the water below. And then, I saw the question “Quanti sogni hai?” (How many dreams do you have?).
At first glance, the locks feel human, romantic, make us smile. On second thought, though, how pressing is the weight of these iron locks! How many dreams can an iron padlock really hold? How rigid, limiting and suffocating is this…
Setting romance aside, it made me wonder: Indeed, how many dreams do we actually have? And most importantly, what kind of dreams are they? Under the fear of loss, of getting deprived of; when we need to secure and preserve, can we truly set our imagination free to discover our innermost needs?
Preserving demands vigilance; it resists natural change, anchoring itself in the past to protect the present. Dreaming, on the other hand, is an act of creation. It requires curiosity, freedom and genuine expression. It is anchored in the present with the intention to shape the future. How do we imagine our lives and what is invaluable to us? What do we dream of? How do we treat what we treasure most?