Life is beautiful

Over a decade ago I fell in love with an amazing foreign film entitled La Vita è Bella or Life is Beautiful. It starred Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi and told the story of a fun-loving, caring Jewish man named Guido living in 1930s Italy. He meets and falls in love with the beautiful non-Jewish Dora, woos her with his charming amorous and humorous ways, and starts a family.

Not long after, the Germans invade and they get sent to a concentration camp. In order to protect their young son from the cruel reality they find themselves in, Guido pretends the Holocaust is a game and that if they can follow the rules correctly they will win the grand prize. Because of this, his young boy is shielded from the terrors of their situation and survives the ordeal thinking he has won the prize at the end of the game — a tank.

It seems like such a simple plot line — even to the point of being unbelievable — but the story that unfolds on the silver screen is one of hope, spirituality, love and, well — as the title aptly states — beauty. It is the irrepressible story of how love, family, and imagination can overcome all and that, based on how you see it, no matter what happens, life can truly be beautiful. That is, if you allow it to be.

I thought about this movie a lot this past month. It has definitely not been an easy time for many people. While my immediate family and I were luckily not harmed by the storm, my heart wept for everyone who was not so fortunate. Friends, colleagues, and co-workers who lost possessions, homes and many things in life we sometimes take for granted in the hustle and bustle of daily living. I could barely stand to watch the news because I would constantly break out into tears seeing how many people were suffering.

Indeed, after the typhoons (both of them) hit, I felt gloomy, depressed, and just plain “off” for a long time, lamenting the state of our country and the plight of the hundreds and thousands of displaced people whose ordeal is far from over. I would pray to God at night and continue to hope for the best but still find myself involuntarily flinching when even a single drop of rain fell. It all felt “wrong” and I couldn’t see the silver lining beyond the very dark and black rain clouds.

But then, something happened during those cloudy and depressing days that reminded me that it didn’t all have to be about the bad. The tragedy reawakened something in all of us that reminded us of how important it is to look out for one another and help others rise in times of darkness and despair. Much like Pandora’s box which unleashed so much misery onto the world, after all the heartache and sorrow there was hope, and it was enough to make life beautiful once again. All it took was the help of generous souls willingly giving of their time, effort and talent to bring hope to those who needed it.

I have had the privilege — the honor — of seeing, experiencing, and reading about such angels in action and am amazed at how quickly, selflessly and tirelessly they give of themselves. Many relief centers have sprouted all over the city and even in provinces that were not affected, Filipinos are mobilizing to help in any way they can. Groups abroad are finding ways to donate money and goods and, little by little, hope is spreading to those who were ravaged by the storm.

I think an American living in the Philippines said it all when he said that the response to our tragedy was overwhelmingly more powerful than the response to Hurricane Katrina in the sense that many Filipinos have so much less to give and yet are giving whole-heartedly and unselfishly to those in need. A perfect example of that would be our housekeeper and employees, who have just enough, going through their clothes and possessions to see what they could donate. They did this without even being asked and included their items with ours when we collected goods. It was heartwarming and a reminder, once again, that life can beautiful when you really look hard enough.

Another perfect example would be one of my best friends who unfortunately had to witness her brand-new fully-furnished home get engulfed by the flood waters all the way up to the second floor. Cars, appliances and even a gorgeous piano all fell victim to the rains and days later while they were cleaning up and trying to save what they could my amazing friend found the humor to laugh and smile during their clean-up efforts with friends and family and even had the heart to say they found themselves having a bit of fun, all working together.

It’s stories like these that remind me that we have so much to be grateful for even in times of great tragedy and sorrow. Someone once said that tragedy can bring out the best in people and it’s true. How you react when you are in despair says a lot about your character and this tragedy has shown me how many angels are all around us. It may be a long road to recovery, but if we all work together and never lose hope nothing is impossible.

So while we, as a country and as individuals, slowly rebuild our lives, it is still important to remember what we have to be grateful for and embrace all our blessings with an open heart. Continue to reach out and share what you can because this is far from over and there are still many people in need who require help to see their own silver lining. Life is hard; most definitely, it can be amazing, disastrous, unpredictable, unbelievable, even unbearable; but that’s the beauty of it, and it is fleeting, so it is important to find beauty in every moment.