A few reflections with the help of Zerocalcare.
Necessary preface: reading this article is certainly easier if you have had the chance to watch the animated series “Strappare lungo i bordi” by Zerocalcare.
If you haven’t seen it, aside from recommending you watch it, we’ll summarize one of the core concepts of the series: life is a path that seems well-determined and outlined, which we must follow by tearing along the dotted lines, one dot at a time (being good in school, finding a job, getting married, having children, etc.).
But what happens if, while trying to follow the dotted line (set by the surrounding social context), we make a mistake and tear a part that isn’t dotted?
I can state with a certain degree of confidence that no one tears exactly along the edges. If we consider the paper as the sum of all the possibilities life has to offer, we would tear along the edge only if we could also choose the size of our paper. Then, indeed, we would pull hard along the binding and take everything. However, this often doesn’t happen, at least not in all circumstances.
What we are asked to do is to cut out a shape. So, we try to do this by following what we believe to be a predetermined outline, but it’s not an entirely navigable path—in fact, it’s very easy to get lost. It happens then that we start to mark our own path, but we are so focused on trying not to make mistakes and attempting to get back to the original outline that we don’t even realize the size of our paper. Very often, it is significantly larger than we think.
In a context like this, I’M Possible offers its best: it comes with the aim of helping us lift our heads, to look and understand how big the paper we are moving on is. It offers us possibilities, the very ones we were unable to see. Particularly, if we approach the concept of disability as “the set of potentially restrictive conditions resulting from a failure of society” or disability as “a lack caused by the environment,” the intervention of I’M Possible becomes even more significant because our association aims to change the environment.
Zerocalcare’s work highlights with ironic skill the snapshot of an entire generation that finds its existential dimension in discomfort. Uncertainty, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, and the inability to make any decision because every situation is projected as a looming disaster seem to be the dissonant background of every day. And so, out of fear of making a mistake, of tearing outside the edges, one waits, waits, and hopes.
Perhaps at this moment, it may seem obvious, but how important is time? And how important is it that this time is of quality? Especially when we realize that this waiting is still a part of life and it hurts to think that it might even take on the contours of an unexpressed potential.
For I’M Possible, time is a value that certainly cannot be spent “waiting”; for I’M, every moment is precious because it can help us improve and understand. Every moment that I’M dedicates to those seeking support is important and is treated as such: whether at the riding stable or on an excursion in the woods, there will never be a “lost” moment. Every opportunity is used to enhance the I AM (I’M).
As for the fear of “tearing incorrectly,” I’M Possible, through dialogue and sharing, aims to set achievable and verifiable goals for its users. It draws new edges with them and does so with the fantastic help of animals: donkeys and horses that will know how to reconnect even the most jagged edges into a new fantastic design. They will be an inexhaustible source of wonder and discovery in a crescendo of learning towards self-esteem, self-determination, and projective capacity. I’M Possible will accompany you in writing your own line because different cannot and should not be “wrong” and because the possibilities in life are endless.
All of this, therefore, is an invitation to come and share your “edges” with us and see how far we can take and redraw them with the help of our team and our four-legged friends! We look forward to seeing you, and if you have any questions, please write to us!
P.S. If he happens to be reading this, we thank Michele Rech, also known as Zerocalcare, for the reflective prompt and warmly invite him for a horseback ride.
