A full life

“I am of the air, like every mortal, of the great terrible flight, and I am here passing through on my way to the stars, g.rojas.great”
– Felipe Camiroaga on Twitter, quoting the poet Gonzalo Rojas

Over the last few hours there was an unusual spike in visits to this blog. The reason is this 2008 post, which carries a picture of Luciano Bello, the character created by the TV host Felipe Camiroaga; it is probably what comes up when you search for the image on Google. That is an indirect reflection of the impact this news has had in our country. A good person, and probably company for a lot of people.

I admire people who do things, who don’t stop at talk: the doers, the builders, those who step out of their comfort zone and give part of their free time to help others. Maybe it is because I lack a lot of that side myself. It is very comfortable to write a blog, to opine and philosophize; doing things is something else. When I see people like that I get motivated to give my best effort at work, at home, with my people. It is what we all should do.

The 21 people aboard the flight to Juan Fernández were inspired by a noble idea: to lift up a community, to help others get past the pain of the tsunami tragedy. It was a labor of love, of selfless dedication, and that is admirable.

That is what we should learn from this. The grief will pass; what stays with us is the example of these people, who lived their lives intensely right up to the last moment, who lived a full life.