Paris, 20th arrondissement

Dear reader,

commitment is the topic of the day.

Commitment, engagement, impegno. In all these languages the word implies that the person who commits her/himself “gives something in trust”: “commit” comes from the Latin committere (to unite, to bring together, to connect), the French “engagement” means “mettre quelque chose en gage”, so put in trust, and the “pegno” of “impegno” is again to put something in trust.

So to commit to something means to trust. To trust that your belief is strong enough to carry you through the end of your intention. To trust that the people that you working with share the same belief and will act upon it, just like you. To trust that the world, today as it is, is a place for your belief to exist and be carried through.

To trust, and to commit, is, for me, a visceral experience. In other words, it’s all in the guts, that enteric nervous system located in the smooth muscles of the lining of the intestines. To commit, and to trust, is a physical experience, before it is an emotional one. The physical experience of listening to what your tummy (and not your stomach!) says. Your tummy knows, always. So, please, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and for the next year, listen to your tummy; you won’t have to think about it, you’ll know. What it is worth committing to, what it is worth fighting and arguing for. You won’t regret it.

Nerina