Living Passionately: Part Deux

Not long ago, I dedicated an entry to the acknowledgement of Gabby Giffords' bravery and greatness as a result of living passionately.  Today, I want to take the time to acknowledge a recent loss in the world of freestyle skiing, which also demonstrates another flavor of passionate living.

Sarah Burke, a freestyle skier and Canadian native, seems by all accounts to have been a pioneer, amazingly talented athlete and also a good human being (which, in my opinion, trumps all).  Her tragic end came as the result of a bum landing while practicing in her long-time domain of the halfpipe.  I've skimmed several different stories, telling her story and the story of that day, and the best and most comprehensive I've found was published online by SportsNet.  Of all I've read, this was simply a case of someone going through the motions of their workday and unexpectedly encountering a split-second, random complication that proved fatal.

The part of Sarah's story most interesting to me is that which tells of her intense sense of self.  She was dedicated to perfecting her practice of the sport, but she also expanded on this passion and worked very hard to advance opportunities for women in the sport.  She married a fellow skier and, together, they enjoyed what most would consider extreme fun (speaking for myself only, helicopter skiing is not on my list of pastime activities).  But, the theme throughout her story is one of passionate living. 

The safety of the sport, as a whole, was of course called into question after Sarah's accident.  But, with some reflection, I fall on the side of personal freedom in this.  My father was a coal miner his entire career, and he similarly walked into dangerous conditions every single day of his time as a miner.  I'm sure there are many other examples of individuals serving professional roles that entail danger, but as with many, Sarah seemed to simply want to live her passion.  Who can blame her? 

From the day we're delivered into this (sometimes) unforgiving world, we begin a journey as an ironically fragile (and yet superior) participant of that world.  Life is quite a miraculous feat when successful.  Just because there are 6.8 billion of us, it doesn't change the fact that there are a million internal and external forces of nature that must flow in harmony for us to sustain life.  So, in reflecting on the life of Sarah Burke, I will be reminded of the intense and lasting force of passionate living, but I will also be reminded of the intense fragility inherent in each and every human life.