NPR aired a moving interview yesterday with Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate in Colombia who was kidnapped in 2002 by FARC, a terrorist group.  Her book, "Even Silence Has An End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle," was just released. Photo by fabiogis50.

Betancourt's description of captivity gives us a glimpse into our own humanity–the good, the bad, and the ugly. It reminded me of Viktor Frankel's book, Man's Search for Meaning. That book helped me to understand that human beings can create meaning in the bleakest of situations, including a World War II concentration camp.  The extreme conditions bring out who we are as human beings, at our simplest and most complex, in stark relief.

Betancourt talks about the humiliation and agony of having next to no control over your life, whether it's asking permission to get a drink of water or being chained to a tree in the pouring rain.  Like Frankl, she holds on to her dignity, by refusing to answer to a number during a roll call of prisoners. Mixed in the story is boredom, anxiety, a new relationship with time and God, compassion, and finally, upon her release, moving into the unknown.  After six years in the jungle, her rescue by the Colombian army was a swift transformation into a new life, post-release.

Happiness looks different, once you've been stripped naked, to your core.  Betancourt talks about her pledges now to wear perfume every day and to never turn down ice cream. 

I'm looking forward to reading the book.  While I've read numerous interviews with Betancourt about her experience as a captive, what I haven't yet heard clearly is how you forgive and find peace afterward.

How have you recently gotten a glimpse of what makes us human?