Inspiring people: Saima Harmaja

Saima Harmaja was born May 8th 1913 and died of tuberculosis in the spring of 1937, just before she turned 24. Even if she lived a short and pain filled life, shadowed by illness, she knew her calling for poetry from a very young age. She was very passionate about her art and lived her life longing for understanding and kindred spirits. Her ponderings on God and nature, feminism and relationships still feel fresh and resonate in me. She too was a worshiper of beauty.

I've just read her diaries from age 10 to 23 and I felt truly charmed by the humorous, passionate person who shines through almost manic-depressive sounding phases of bliss and suffering. How such an amazing soulfulness mixes with young person's temper and pride and matures up into an acceptance of approaching death, is a very thought provoking thing. I don't know if any of her poems are translated into English but in Finnish they will live on, decades after her and I believe that even if she died young, she fulfilled her calling and thus became a tool for something bigger. And that is what she essentially asked for from life.