La Levedad De Las Libelulas - Carlos Lopez Otin... Jun 2026

The most dangerous moment in a dragonfly’s life is not death; it is birth. When the nymph climbs a reed to escape the water, it must split its exoskeleton. For hours, it is a creature of neither water nor air. It is horrifically vulnerable. Its wings are soft, crumpled, useless. 90% of dragonflies fail at this stage. They fall back into the water or are eaten by birds.

López Otín’s conclusion is devastating and beautiful: The dragonfly does not ignore death; it simply does not have enough mass to carry the fear of it. La levedad de las libelulas - Carlos Lopez Otin...

If you enjoyed this exploration, we recommend reading: La levedad de las libélulas by Carlos López Otín (Editorial Crítica, 2020). Available in Spanish; translations forthcoming. The most dangerous moment in a dragonfly’s life

A dragonfly cannot focus on a single point; it sees the mosaic. When tragedy strikes, we tend to zoom in obsessively on the wound. López Otín suggests stepping back to see the whole pattern—the wound is one lens among 30,000. It is horrifically vulnerable

He proposes that “levedad” is not frivolity. It is the conscious act of shedding unnecessary baggage. Just as a dragonfly molts its larval skin to take flight, humans must shed dogma, resentment, and the illusion of absolute control.