What my old man got right

A story about how people can impact the lives of others.

Growing up, I lived very far from my dad. That's where I developed a deep sensitivity around goodbyes. But when he'd hop in his truck and come get me (700 km away) the reunion and the time we spent together were everything.

He always did what felt right to him, by conviction, and he passed that freedom on to me even when I was very young. Over time I realized that, beyond his issues with absence, when he was there, he was really there. I needed him and he showed up. He cared about being present when he knew it was worth it.

I understood he was a free spirit and there was no arguing with it: if something resonated with him, he did it. He didn't register impossibles, big or small.

My dad is slowly losing his memory, but in the moments of clarity he still has, he's a brilliant man. Not long ago I was telling him about my personal projects and he said: "Where there's interest, things happen. If you want it, you can do it."  That's how he lived. And I think that's what made him successful.

Success, in the end, is relative for all of us. But in my case (and I think in his too) it meant enjoying life, making room for the simple things and personal desires, no matter how small they seem. Success was lying down to search for satellites in the sky, in silence. Is there anything simpler or more magical than that?

And if you could see me in that photo.

There we were, the two of us, standing and staring at who knows what. He was clearly trying to capture some breathtaking view, and I was absorbing everything he was creating.

I think I took what I needed to approach my life from a different angle, and above all, true to myself.

You don't know me, but this is me, at my peak information-sponge state: possessed by the moment, the adventure, the size of the arrayán trees, and magnetized by the company.

I grew up a sponge. And today, everything I absorbed from him, I think it, I feel it, and I carry it into everything I do.

That's the kind of information that matters, the kind I now use to work on my personal brand, to bring what's important to the front and leave the fluff behind.

The takeaway from all of this: seek inspiration, listen closely to the people who inspire you, and draw from them the essence of what could become your own voice, your personal manifesto.

J.