The fundamental list

Have you ever asked, “If I would like to go and live in Damanhur, what would I really need?”

Certainly you need a lot of courage, a precise and decisive choice, curiosity, desire to learn and put yourself to the test, a drive toward change, a desire to dream, to do something useful for the world and for humanity, a willingness to share with others. All this is definitely useful, although dear readers, today I reveal the six secrets that make it easier to start a new life in Damanhur!

1. Ask your mothers, grandmothers, neighbors, and all the food experts that you know for recipes to easily and quickly cook for 20 people… plus a few more. Of course one dish is not enough! Okay now, Damanhur is still based in Italy, a country renowned for good food, and we do not want to lower the level. (If you want to cook a specialty from your country of origin, I offer you a suggestion: bring the ingredients with you. Despite the goodness of Italian cuisine, you will find mostly Italian products in the stores.)

2. Go to the gym, run, jog, get into shape, or come with a car. Damanhur is located on hilly lands.

3. If you are not Italian, learn the language and use it, even in your dreams, because one day – and the day will come – you will begin to write down your dreams… all of them!

4. All those who have participated in an astronaut training program, or the special forces, or are mothers, are privileged because you have learned to live with just a few hours of sleep. For others, like me, it is advisable that you adapt your biological clock, because every evening there is something special: a talk, a very interesting assembly that usually begins at the end of the working day. Those who were born lucky and only need four hours of sleep per night are predisposed for community life in general, not just in Damanhur.

5. For people like me who might say, “Oh, these pants will surely fit again someday…” or “Oh yes, the fashion of the 1980s will come back in style!” I inform you that moving all your clothes will make you want to live a simpler life. Since our inner personalities do not let us to change so easily, find a storage space! (Psst… there are some people like me who would like to share such a space with you ;-))

6. Depending on your point of view, the last point may seem like the easiest or the hardest thing to do: bring a good sense of humor! When you find 30 people at the dinner table and you have prepared savory pies for only 20. When, if you are a foreigner and you think you have learned a difficult word in Italian, you declaim it proudly, and you make everyone laugh because instead of saying “tacchino” (turkey) you said “tacconi” (patch). When, after a long walk home, you have almost reached your destination and only then three cars pass you by on the way to your house… you just have to laugh. Although in Damanhur, you are never laughing alone, and this lightens all the fatigue!

Labrador