Have you ever come across the poem by Rupert Brooke, The Soldier? It starts:
If I should die, think only this of me: That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England.
In view of Queen’s Elizabeth’s death and the legacy of her remarkable reign, it got me focused on the topic of what remains after we’re gone. What comes to mind when you think about your legacy?
Not yet!
Crazy idea!
Fuzzy
Super clear!
Or something else? May I ask you to add in your thoughts below!
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I was talking with a writer friend about this yesterday. He wanted to refocus his purpose with his writing.
I told him writing, and more specifically, publishing, is all about ego. He argued that he has selfless reasons, like contributing to the substance of the universe. I told him that assuming you have something unique to contribute is inherently egotistical (even if you’re right).
Putting things out there to continue your legacy, so that you’re not forgotten, or even to contribute to the cultural zeitgeist and narrative, is an act of ego and also a crapshoot, as (like with so many things) one’s chance of being actually remembered, especially beyond the few family members who knew you or knew someone who did, is so small.
Anyway. As for my own legacy (not that people will remember me anyway) I’d like to be remembered as a person of compassion and curiosity, someone who would listen and talk and be present for who you are and not who I wish you were.
As I see many friends and family members battling illness right now, I am even more acutely reminded of my relative smallness and the depressing futility of it all. I wrote in a notebook yesterday, depressed about a very young friend’s diagnosis/prognosis, “Why bother?”
The answer came back very clearly: “Because the rest of us are still here.”
Your first point Nicci reminds me of the debate I once had over St Augustine's Confessions. Were they not written to be read? Our discussion was around: if one writes a "secret" book (eg diary), by virtue of its permanence, is it not an act of wishing to be read? In today's world, where the writer is also the seller (unless you're famous or already have a bestseller), the ego needs to be ready to flout and flog one's own creation.
Sorry to hear about the battles around you. Your conclusion speaks to 'purpose' of connection. We are social animals and thrive through our network and our community. If we can lean into a genuine purpose, it will help make every day a bit more meaningful. After all, as Oliver Burkeman wrote in his very thoughtful 4000 weeks (I was fortunate to have had him as a guest on my podcast), “mortality makes it impossible to ignore the absurdity of living solely for the future.”
I loved your thoughts and honesty, Nicci! “Because the rest of us are here” indeed. I wrote a similarly inclined piece long ago. Will find it and share, but I’ve been in this precise struggle for the past few months having lost both parents in less than two years amidst the turmoil of COVID and umpteen, endless India trips. But there’s not too many paths out of this funk except to keep marching on despite it all… and somehow the light reappears.
I have put much weight (faith?) into the idea that if, at least a part of each day, I have accomplished what I believe is important (phrased as my North Star), then I feel an extra jolt of energy. My hope is that it will take me through the waning of the body and carry me across the unfortunate events that are bound to come, given the way life is. As long as I am in communion with others, I'm ever convinced that it'll keep me going until the branch lets go of the leaf for the last time.
What do you think the bad guys of history like Christopher Columbus and icky, subhuman Nazis and slave traders thought about? That’s right: THEIR LEGACY. The whole idea of a legacy is covered in whiteness, and the only way to leave those sorts of things behind is to stop caring about silly little things like “the future” and just start living for now!
Vinnius, I don't believe that legacy is the monopoly of one particular type of person or race. It's inherent in many cultures. The way I see it, it's a way to leave a lasting positive imprint on this world, such as the remarkable legacies of Martin Luther King, Jr, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, to name a few.
I was talking with a writer friend about this yesterday. He wanted to refocus his purpose with his writing.
I told him writing, and more specifically, publishing, is all about ego. He argued that he has selfless reasons, like contributing to the substance of the universe. I told him that assuming you have something unique to contribute is inherently egotistical (even if you’re right).
Putting things out there to continue your legacy, so that you’re not forgotten, or even to contribute to the cultural zeitgeist and narrative, is an act of ego and also a crapshoot, as (like with so many things) one’s chance of being actually remembered, especially beyond the few family members who knew you or knew someone who did, is so small.
Anyway. As for my own legacy (not that people will remember me anyway) I’d like to be remembered as a person of compassion and curiosity, someone who would listen and talk and be present for who you are and not who I wish you were.
As I see many friends and family members battling illness right now, I am even more acutely reminded of my relative smallness and the depressing futility of it all. I wrote in a notebook yesterday, depressed about a very young friend’s diagnosis/prognosis, “Why bother?”
The answer came back very clearly: “Because the rest of us are still here.”
Your first point Nicci reminds me of the debate I once had over St Augustine's Confessions. Were they not written to be read? Our discussion was around: if one writes a "secret" book (eg diary), by virtue of its permanence, is it not an act of wishing to be read? In today's world, where the writer is also the seller (unless you're famous or already have a bestseller), the ego needs to be ready to flout and flog one's own creation.
Sorry to hear about the battles around you. Your conclusion speaks to 'purpose' of connection. We are social animals and thrive through our network and our community. If we can lean into a genuine purpose, it will help make every day a bit more meaningful. After all, as Oliver Burkeman wrote in his very thoughtful 4000 weeks (I was fortunate to have had him as a guest on my podcast), “mortality makes it impossible to ignore the absurdity of living solely for the future.”
I loved your thoughts and honesty, Nicci! “Because the rest of us are here” indeed. I wrote a similarly inclined piece long ago. Will find it and share, but I’ve been in this precise struggle for the past few months having lost both parents in less than two years amidst the turmoil of COVID and umpteen, endless India trips. But there’s not too many paths out of this funk except to keep marching on despite it all… and somehow the light reappears.
I have put much weight (faith?) into the idea that if, at least a part of each day, I have accomplished what I believe is important (phrased as my North Star), then I feel an extra jolt of energy. My hope is that it will take me through the waning of the body and carry me across the unfortunate events that are bound to come, given the way life is. As long as I am in communion with others, I'm ever convinced that it'll keep me going until the branch lets go of the leaf for the last time.
Here’s a similar pondering I indulged in a year ago. https://arrivalsanddepartures.substack.com/p/making-sense-of-life-and-death
Funny you should ask! I just wrote about this very notion in my last post... https://arrivalsanddepartures.substack.com/p/capturing-her-in-one-sentence
It's a lovely piece Reena. Timely eh!?
Indeed! Thank you 🙏
What is this white supremacy?
Can you elaborate please?
What do you think the bad guys of history like Christopher Columbus and icky, subhuman Nazis and slave traders thought about? That’s right: THEIR LEGACY. The whole idea of a legacy is covered in whiteness, and the only way to leave those sorts of things behind is to stop caring about silly little things like “the future” and just start living for now!
Vinnius, I don't believe that legacy is the monopoly of one particular type of person or race. It's inherent in many cultures. The way I see it, it's a way to leave a lasting positive imprint on this world, such as the remarkable legacies of Martin Luther King, Jr, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, to name a few.