How this Italian word can change your life
Play big by allowing sweetness and ease into your life. Here's how you do it
One of my favorite Italian words is dolcemente.
What does it mean? It can mean sweetly and softly.
With ease. Slow down. No pressure. It’s such an evocative word.
There’s even a saying in northern Italy, tola dolsa, take it sweetly. That is the northern Italian equivalent of the English take it easy.
Dolcemente is something that we don’t do a lot of.
I notice it in myself and also in my clients who are students of Italian.
We have fancy words like self-care, self-compassion, and mindfulness.
Dolcemente however is so much more than all these words put together.
Honestly, it’s not as easy as it sounds.
In life, we tend to do the very opposite. We can be quite nasty to ourselves.
Would that be that we’re bitter with ourselves?
We think that by being hard on ourselves, we’re pushing more and we’ll get more results. And instead, it’s the contrary.
Italy is all about being dolce to yourself. From the lazy summer afternoons, to the long Sunday lunches and the cheerful aperitivo in piazza.
It’s about enjoying the moment. Taking time for yourself.
If that’s what you love about Italy, then you have to learn to do things dolcemente.
My clients want to learn Italian but decide to tackle it in a military way. That’s what we all learned when we were young, at school.
Work hard, and get results. You have to deserve those results.
If you’re not suffering, you’re somehow cheating.
No loss, no gain.
But Italy isn’t about that at all.
It’s about being able to enjoy the moment. Dolcemente.
You can’t let Italy in your life ( and into your heart) if you’re approaching it like another job assignment that you can’t wait to get over with.
You can’t trap Italy and make it become another item on your to-do list.
Because then, you're losing its essence. If you’re in love with a place, your actions, your attitude, should embody this passion.
Learning Italian dolcemente means letting the country and language into your heart like you would let in the sun through the window on a beautiful spring morning.
When your heart is open, your mind will follow and the language will flow into your life bringing enjoyment instead of second-guessing.
Learning dolcemente means learning to listen to yourself, your pace and needs.
Dolcemente show up to do things you love in Italian.
Dolcemente learn to love your Italian voice.
Dolcemente forget about the culture of busyness
Dolcemente show up for yourself.
Dolcemente bring Italy into your life every day.
I mean, life is short, you know?
When did we begin being so hard on ourselves? What purpose does it even serve?
Except that of making us feel constantly dissatisfied with our lives?
Unfortunately, not doing things dolcemente does serve a purpose.
It keeps us dissatisfied with ourselves.
We live in a world that wants us to play small by telling us that we are how much we do and what we do. And that by being hard on ourselves we will achieve more.
But more what anyway?
The sum of our life isn’t any of that. How much we do is not a worthy legacy.
Want to play truly big? Bring Italy in your life, dolcemente.
This is a big focus of the language retreats I run. My students immerse in Italian but also learn to let go and to allow Italy in their hearts.
And this is something you can do as well, starting now.
Do everything in your day with the sweetness and ease that comes from listening to yourself and your needs.
Put yourself back in the picture.
Reclaim your place in the world.
When you decide to do things dolcemente, you’re saying a gentle but firm no to a culture that doesn’t put your happiness first and is setting you up for failure.
Make your happiness the only measure of your success you need.
Wishing you to find more dolcezza in your Italian learning but also in your life.
That’s the only way to actually get closer to Italy.
Scegli la dolcezza per te. Te la meriti.
How are you bringing more dolcezza in your life today?
Thanks for reading!
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