Gen Verde live streaming from Loppiano… #distantimauniti Riccardo, Anna, Cristian, Paola … the list is unending. They are just some of the over 4,000 fans who watched Gen Verde live streaming directly from their home last week. This is not the time for concerts, as public gatherings are banned, yet some questions just keep coming back to haunt us: how can we support those who are lonely, or are in the front line facing this pandemic, to be bearers of peace and of hope where we all are right now? This is where the idea of “Gen Verde from Home” was born: no longer live from town squares and concert halls but the living room at home. The instruments are there: a guitar, a keyboard, a flute, microphones and … a computer helping us reach the homes of all those who connect. But this is not a concert, it is quite an extraordinary appointment: we sing, we tell real life experiences, we present the fruits of the creativity born of this moment and … as Hans Christian Andersen wrote,  ‘Where words fail… music speaks.’ In real time everyone from home can express a thought, send a message and literally the chat explodes and it is impossible to contain the gratitude and enthusiasm of those connected from all 5 continents. Nobody is missing from the roll call: from Argentina to Korea, from Canada to Hungary, from Italy to Australia. Suddenly, through the miracle of technology, the living room open to so many at the same time becomes an intimate place where singing and praying are synonyms, where celebrating a birthday and remembering those who have lost the battle against COVID-19 take on the same importance and everything is a gift of love. “Recently – Colomba says – I have heard a lot of news, not only from TV, but also from our neighbours, family and friends. Unfortunately, it is often quite painful news. I feel so much fear, worry, and an almost overwhelming sense of helplessness … of not being able to do anything for those who suffer.  And I ask myself “why? and for how long?” In the past few days, one morning, while cleaning the house, I heard a voice speaking within: “be at peace, if you do small things well with love where you are, this is a contribution to support humanity”. A simple experience for Colomba who, like the other women of Gen Verde, seeks a meaning to stay at home, to deal with household chores like so many women all over the world.   “Since that day the situation has not changed much – Colomba continues – but I can change my attitude by believing that this can change the world”. Here then is the recipe for transforming the 4 walls of the house (which sometimes appear very narrow) into a living room wide open for all humanity, a recipe to try and live. And Colomba is already at work and between a phone call and housework her experience has become music … and it is ready to be shared during the live streaming April 3 at 4pm (Italian time). An opportunity not to be missed. Just connect by clicking on https://youtu.be/NLsPTyuITu0

 Tiziana Nicastro