El Mundo por Eduardo Galeano (del libro “El Libro de Los Abrazos”) 

Un hombre del pueblo de Neguá, en la costa de Colombia, pudo subir al alto cielo.
A la vuelta, contó. Dijo que había contemplado, desde allá arriba, la vida humana. Y dijo que somos un mar de fueguitos.

– El mundo es eso — reveló. Un montón de gente, un mar de fueguitos. 

Cada persona brilla con luz propia entre todas las demás. No hay dos fuegos iguales. Hay fuegos grandes y fuegos chicos y fuegos de todos los colores. Hay gente de fuego sereno, que ni se entera del viento, y gente de fuego loco, que llena el aire de chispas. Algunos fuegos, fuegos bobos, no alumbran ni queman; pero otros arden la vida con tantas ganas que no se puede mirarlos sin parpadear, y quien se acerca, se enciende.

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The World by Eduardo Galeano (from the book “The Book of Embraces”)

A man from the town of Neguá, on the coast of Colombia, could climb into the sky.

On his return, he described his trip. He told how he had contemplated, from high above, human life. And he said we are a sea of tiny flames.

“The world is that,” he revealed. “A heap of people, a sea of tiny flames.”

Each person shines with his or her own light. No two flames are alike. There are big flames and little flames and flames of every color. Some people’s flames are so still they don’t even flicker in the wind, while others have wild flames that fill the air with sparks. Some foolish flames neither burn nor shed light, but others blaze with life so fiercely that you can’t look at them without blinking, and if you approach them you shine in fire.

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I read the short story above for the first time perhaps a few months ago. I loved it so much for its accurate description of the world…of how I see the world and how I would see myself in the world. I loved it even more for the reflections it triggered regarding those millions of different flames -some of them lightening and some of them burning the world- and the reactions that could be caused by the interaction of different flames.

“…pero otros arden la vida con tantas ganas que no se puede mirarlos sin parpadear, y quien se acerca, se enciende.” 

“…but others blaze with life so fiercely that you can’t look at them without blinking, and if you approach them you shine in fire.”

I wonder: if you are the kind of fire that blazes with life so fiercely that those who approach you catch fire, you could make them shine even brighter with their own light . However, could it be possible to make them burn until there is barely anything more than ashes? In the end, I guess, it is about finding the flames that will cause the appropriate reactions.