Claudio Scaramelli, a former engineer turned health coach with a penchant for technology, is the driving force behind CH4NG3, a pioneering initiative whose mission is to bridge the healthcare gap, offering personalized guidance and comprehensive health education.
There comes a delicate time in life, a crossroads of sorts, where old patterns cling stubbornly to existence, despite an earnest desire to lay them to rest. These patterns, often formed in the tender years of infancy, no longer serve us, yet their grip can be strong, lingering even as we cultivate a new awareness of what it means to truly live. I find myself precisely at this juncture—halfway between the past I am willing to let go of and a future that beckons with the promise of a more whole, meaningful existence. With the passage of time weighing heavily on my thoughts, I began to wonder. Is there a path to living a truly fulfilling life—one that transcends the pursuit of merely prolonging time as a finite resource, and instead immerses us in new, meaningful experiences that make life profoundly worth living, even in the face of past traumas?
First, let me clarify this question by returning to its origin: a scene from 32 December (1988), an Italian movie that, in its simplicity, offers a beautiful perspective on life and time. Luciano De Crescenzo, a brilliant Neapolitan philosopher and engineer, as well as the director and actor of the movie, muses:
Time is an emotion and it has a two-dimensional quality, in the sense that you can live it in length or in width. If you live it in length, in a monotonous and always the same way, after 60 years you will have 60 years. But if you live it in width, with ups and downs, falling in love, and maybe even making some mistakes, after 60 years you might only have 30 years. The problem is that people study how to lengthen life, when instead they should study how to widen it. You see, there is external time and internal time. External time is the time of clocks, calendars, and it is the same for everyone. Internal time, on the other hand, is something personal, like the color of our eyes and hair, and it is different for each person. That’s why there are people who are 60, 70, or 80 years old and have the impression of being 20. The truth is that it’s not an impression: they really are 20.
Now that we have set the baseline, let’s try to answer that question.
The external clock vs. the internal rhythm
In the world we navigate daily, time is often depicted as a relentless march forward. The tick of the clock, the flip of the calendar, the anniversaries and milestones that mark our passage— these are the external measures of time. They are impartial, uniform, and relentless. We all live by this clock, its hands moving at the same pace for everyone, creating a shared but superficial sense of time.
But beneath the surface of this external clock lies another, more intimate measurement—our internal rhythm. This internal time is not ruled by minutes or years but by moments of deep feeling, of love and loss, joy and despair, wonder and monotony. It’s the time that pauses when you’re caught in the gaze of someone you love, or that rushes forward in the blink of an eye during moments of sheer exhilaration. This internal time is as unique to each person as the color of their eyes or the tone of their voice. It is a personal chronicle of our emotional lives, shaping how we perceive the passing years.
Living wide rather than long
Consider the difference between living life in length and living it in width. When we live life in length, we follow a straight and narrow path, marked by routine and predictability. Each day is a reflection of the last, and though the years may accumulate, they often pass without leaving a significant mark on our internal world. After sixty years, one might indeed find themselves sixty years old, with each year stacked neatly on top of the last, like rungs on a ladder.
On the other hand, living life in width means embracing the full spectrum of experiences—both the highs and the lows, the foolishness of impetuous decisions, the thrill of falling in love, the agony of heartbreak, the excitement of new ventures, and the peace of quiet contentment. When we live wide, time bends and stretches, creating a landscape full of peaks and valleys. After sixty years of such living, one might feel, and indeed be, only thirty in spirit, rich in memories but youthful in heart.
The quest to expand our lives
In our society, there is an almost obsessive focus on extending life. We are bombarded with tips on how to live longer—eat this, avoid that, exercise more, stress less. The promise is that by following these guidelines, we can add more years to our lives. But De Crescenzo’s reflection pushes us to ask a deeper question: what if the goal is not to live longer but to live more fully?
To live wide is to cultivate an awareness of the richness of life’s possibilities. It means daring to step outside the comfort zone of routine and embracing the uncertainty that comes with new experiences. It means allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, to make mistakes, to fall and get back up again. It is in these moments—when we step into the unknown—that our internal time expands, filling our lives with a depth that cannot be measured by the clock.
The wisdom of embracing foolishness
Living wide requires embracing what might often be considered foolishness. But what does it mean to be foolish in this context? It means surrendering to the spontaneity that life offers, being willing to take risks, and allowing ourselves the freedom to be imperfect. Society often values caution, predictability, and control, but in doing so, it can strip away the vibrancy that makes life truly worth living.
Foolishness, in its most constructive sense, is about daring to love deeply, even when it hurts. It’s about pursuing passions that may not make sense to others, but which ignite a fire within us. It’s about saying “yes” to opportunities that scare us, knowing that it’s in the unpredictable moments that we often find our truest selves.
When we look back at the lives of those who have lived fully, we often see a pattern of moments where they chose to step outside the boundaries of reason and convention. These are the moments that define them, that add width to their lives. They remind us that being “wise” sometimes means being willing to be foolish—to follow the heart rather than the head.
The role of love in expanding time
Love, in all its forms, is perhaps the most powerful force that can expand our internal time. When we love, we transcend the ordinary bounds of existence. Love allows us to see the world with fresh eyes, to experience the mundane as magical, to find joy in the presence of another.
Romantic love, with its highs and lows, certainly stretches the fabric of time, making moments both fleeting and eternal. But the love of friends, family, and even the love of life itself, can have a similar effect. Love invites us to be present, to be engaged, and to fully inhabit the moments we are given.
In loving deeply, we invest in the quality of our time rather than merely its quantity. We create memories that are not just fleeting impressions but indelible marks on the canvas of our lives. These moments of love, whether they are grand gestures or quiet, everyday acts of kindness, are what we carry with us, long after the clock has stopped ticking.
The dance between routine and spontaneity
While it’s important to live wide, embracing spontaneity and the unpredictability of life, there is also value in the rhythm of routine. Routine can ground us, providing a stable foundation from which we can explore the wider world. It’s the balance between routine and spontaneity that allows us to live a full life.
Routine gives us the tools to manage our lives, to maintain our health, and to achieve our goals. It’s the daily practices, the small, consistent actions, that build the framework for a life that can be lived wide. But within that framework, spontaneity breathes life. It’s the unexpected, the unplanned, that brings joy, surprise, and wonder.
Think of it as a dance. Routine sets the rhythm, but spontaneity adds the flair. Together, they create a life that is both stable and dynamic, predictable and exciting. It’s in the interplay of these two forces that we find the true richness of life.
Reframing aging: The gift of youthful spirit
Aging is often seen as a process of decline, a slow march towards the inevitable end. But what if we reframed aging as a process of deepening, of becoming more ourselves with each passing year? The key to this perspective is understanding that our internal time, the width of our lives, can keep us forever young in spirit.
Those who live wide often find that they do not feel their age in the conventional sense. Their years may accumulate, but their spirit remains vibrant, curious, and engaged. They approach life with the same enthusiasm and wonder as they did in their youth, because they have cultivated a rich internal world, one that is nourished by experiences, relationships, and a deep sense of purpose.
This reframing of aging is a gift. It allows us to embrace the passage of time not with fear, but with gratitude. Each year becomes an opportunity to add more width to our lives, to deepen our understanding, and to expand our experience. It’s a shift from seeing time as something to be battled or resisted to seeing it as a canvas on which to paint the story of our lives.
Cultivating a mindful relationship with time
To live wide requires a mindful relationship with time. It means being aware of how we spend our days, of the choices we make, and of the impact those choices have on our internal time. Mindfulness invites us to be present, to fully inhabit each moment, rather than letting time slip by unnoticed.
Mindfulness is not about slowing down the external clock, but about engaging more fully with our internal rhythm. It’s about paying attention to the moments that matter, savoring the experiences that bring joy, and being present to the challenges that help us grow. It’s about recognizing that time is not just a measure of the hours and minutes that pass, but of the depth of our experience.
By cultivating mindfulness, we can expand our internal time, creating a life that is not just long in years, but wide in experience. We can move beyond the surface of our lives, diving deep into the richness that each moment offers. And in doing so, we can create a life that is truly lived.
Conclusion: Embracing the width of life
In the end, the art of living fully is about embracing the richness of life in all its uncertainties and surprises. It’s about releasing the rigid pursuit of longevity and shifting our focus to the quality of our days. It’s about recognizing that time, as we experience it, is as personal and unique as we are. By living fully by loving deeply, daring boldly, making mistakes, and finding joy in the ordinary—we can expand our lives in ways that transcend the ticking of the clock.
So, as we move forward in our own journeys, may we strive not just to add years to our lives but to add life to our years. May we live wide, with hearts open to all the emotions, experiences, and adventures that come our way. In doing so, we might find that, no matter how many years pass by, we remain forever young in spirit, rich in the things that truly matter.
Time, after all, is an emotion, a deeply personal experience that we alone can shape. And in the vast landscape of our internal world, it’s up to us to decide how we will live it.
Claudio Scaramelli, Entrepreneur | Health & Wellness Coach
Claudio Scaramelli, a former engineer turned health coach with a penchant for technology, is the driving force behind CH4NG3, a pioneering initiative whose mission is to bridge the healthcare gap, offering personalized guidance and comprehensive health education. With a deep passion for stress and metabolic health, Claudio seamlessly blends his expertise with cutting-edge AI technology to empower individuals on their wellness journey. Claudio envisions a future where healthcare is understandable, accessible, and manageable for all, and people are empowered to take ownership of their well-being, making preventive health a reality. With pillars like personalized health coaching, client-centric preventive care, education, technology integration, and global healthcare connections, working with individuals as well as companies, organizations, schools, universities, and educational institutions, CH4NG3 is a catalyst for change, shaping a brighter health horizon for everyone.
