Cathy Blanc: “The current crisis is an opportunity to grow. »

In your essay, you evoke the arrogance of human beings forgetting their dependence on the entire planet or even their thirst for certainty, when unpredictability is the very essence of life. How does this resonate at the heart of the current pandemic?

Man is in this quest for superiority, for mastery, forgetting the “blindness of knowledge” of which the philosopher Edgar Morin warned us. We think we know. We lack humility. This word, whose root is common with “humus”, invites us to the essential things of the earth. This simplicity is not reductive, it is an opportunity to enrich ourselves, to fertilize, to go further by participating in something that is beyond us. Accepting that everything changes allows us to let go. This does not mean giving up but, on the contrary, open hands to enjoy the present moment and the unexpected.

How to alleviate the suffering of confinement?

Let us not seek to deny the sufferings of such a situation, which are terrible. Accepting them is a proof of courage. At the same time, let us be large enough to accommodate what is going well. In this way, space can be created for the singing bird or the shining sun. Nature teaches us that after storms, life is reborn. Taking a step back from the event allows us to experience things less dramatically. It is also an opportunity to refocus on our values ​​by turning inward, as Buddhism teaches us. The faithful moreover readily define themselves as “Nangpas”, literally “beings from within”.

“Nature teaches us that after storms, life is reborn. Taking a step back from the event allows us to experience things less dramatically. »

In your book, you develop the metaphor of the calade. How is it precious to us today?

The calade is an Occitan word which designates both a stone used to pave the street and the cobbled street itself. "Being calade" is a way of uniting with others to explore a territory, but also an opportunity to allow others to go further. Each link, small or large, participates in something larger. At the moment, I see calades emerging, and I get involved alongside them, like that of this group of volunteers who set up a listening center for people in mourning. It is a calade of humanity.