As a child I had many dreams, I was a strange child and different from the others – so they say.

 As I became an adult I realized that every dream I had made come true, had required hard work, energy, audacity,
the ability to take a challenge and open-mindedness. Yes, you need to be open-minded.
Everyone’s path is covered with thorns and close-mesh nets. Prejudice, ignorance, and mass opinions that state
your path should necessarily run down a preordained and established route and who frown upon the “insubordinate”,
those who want to be the creators of their own destiny and who want to follow their aspirations and their dreams.
There are also different types of meshes; the ones created by our own demons, our fears and internal conflicts.

 I always loved the audacious, the courageous, the stubborn, those who break free from the meshes, who never
surrender, who are never content and those who are able to say NO or even YES if they want to, if they feel like it,
if they have to defend the freedom of their opinions or convictions. I always loved those who cannot be convinced,
those who don’t follow the masses.
This issue is dedicated to those people.
We have showcased many aspects of audacity.
As for every issue, some of our friends designers have given us their special contribution: some touched upon
serious and prickly topics, some discussed the absurd and others told us about men and women who created and exposed themselves with audacity during difficult times. Some other contributed with stories of their own audacious creative visions or of
everyday examples of courage, of big and small challenges and always knowing how to be themselves without
making too much noise.
My thought and special dedication go out in particular to a courageous woman who left a substantial mark in my
personal life and to another, a public figure, who suffered and lived through hell in a psychiatric institute without ever
losing herself.
Of the latter I share with you a snippet of her interview after she posed naked, already old and scarred by life.

 “Oh yes… physical imperfection is more scandalous than that of the soul. Everyone points the finger at those who
aren’t “perfect” according to stupid social standards..backed by many respectful followers that stare at and admire
their reflection in the mirror from morning to night…letting their souls rot.. It was I who wanted to be photographed
naked. People’s morality amuses me, they don’t judge nudity in itself, which by now is everywhere, but they judge if
it’s imperfect. Imperfection shocks as if it was someone’s fault. Mine was an act of provocation and of deep pain: in
the psychiatric ward they would undress us like objects.
I still feel naked now.”

 – Alda Merini, poetess, writer, woman. Courageous, bold, pure –