I thought about a conversation I had with someone a while back, and it touched upon what would I want to leave folks when I am gone. I never thought about it before, as no one wants to think about their own mortality for no apparent reason. I try to think about living, not dying, but it was an interesting question because not many people know what to say, outside of personal possessions or some advice to someone on how to live life to the fullest. There are people who make out elaborate wills to leave their children this or other relatives and good friends that, and focus on the idea that they have to leave some physical aspect of themselves to someone in order to be remembered in some fashion. The truth of the matter is that heirlooms, property, riches, and other physical aspects to be left over are not the most important things that one can leave.One can leave a house to their children, and they may share it, and use it as a vacation place, and that's fine. One can leave some expensive China in a will to be cherished down generations. In the end, that really doesn't matter. We all have a tendency to want to leave a mark or footprint saying that we were here on earth, and often they believe that footprint has to be something material.
The footprint that is most impressionable, and the legacy that is most potent is what intangible you leave with people. What you stood for, what laughter you shared with someone, what sadness you were there for, and shared, and whether you offered comfort. What advice you gave someone in times of trouble that they followed, and things turned out right. How you conducted yourself for others to watch, and take note of, and most importantly how you made others feel when they saw you, and were around you. These are the everlasting ripples that will live with people in their hearts long after you are gone, and these are the feelings that they will relay to others that will last far longer than some antique heirloom. These footprints and ripples are what people should strive to leave behind because qualities such as those can influence lives for the better. As I said before, you never know who you have influenced, and sometimes there are people you barely knew who were touched in some way by an act of kindness, or random conversation that really made a difference in their lives in some way.
I don't have riches. I don't have fancy China, or furniture to leave anyone. I have jokingly told my friends who gets what music equipment when I die, but I'm really not concerned with those aspects because when I'm dead, I obviously will have no say in the matter, so everyone scrounge away. What I do care about is whether I made a difference in someone's life for the better. Was I help someone work through a problem? I really have no control over whether someone likes me or not, because as I have said before I care not to be liked by everyone. If I am, then I pandered somewhere, and stood for nothing trying to please everyone, and that is no way to go through life. But what I do care to leave is some sort of memory with people that they can have for themselves. As if a piece of me was left here for them as their own. The ripple of interaction is a powerful connection that lasts far beyond the years of a person gone, and becomes etched in the mind of those for as long as they can remember.
I have no plans on leaving, or dying anytime soon, but no one knows how long they are here for. While I am here, I like to interact with as many people personally as I can. Whether it be in the act of just meeting once in life, or over the course of several times, I like people, and generally people are interesting to talk with and learn from. Yes there are some grand idiots out there, but they can be learned from also. I hope that I can lend knowledge to some also. Not just about music, or stats about some concrete minutia, but some real tangible knowledge that might help them in the future, or some conversation that resonated with them about life. Those are the things that I hope to leave to someone, and what we can all strive to do is be a thought in someone's head when they run into a dilemma, or be a smile on their face as they remember good times with you, or relay something to someone that you said, and it helped them. Those are the intangible ripples that we can all aspire to leave.
So beyond political ideas, moronic conflicts, and the fireworks of mouth running, make sure in life you give someone your essence. Who you are as a person, and just what you are about and stand for as a child of the universe. That is an important legacy for you to leave with someone, or many people, because that is your own rock that you stood on while you were here, and once you are not here, people that you knew and touched can chop up that rock and take a piece home with them for themselves. Their own personal piece of you that they can remember and cherish, and perhaps refer to in times that they need to. That is the legacy of you, and that is what will keep you alive long after the last tear has been shed for you. You will not be able to control what folks say about you when you are gone. There will be things said that aren't true, or exaggerated, or distorted in some ways. There won't be anything you can do about that, and that's just how it is sometimes. But what you can control is how you conduct yourself while you are alive, and how you interact with people now, and sometimes it won't be all good. But then again it won't be all bad either.
So leave your legacy of you, and let the memory of you be unique in the minds of everyone. It is there where your ripples will always be moving and influencing the shape of everyone. If I leave nothing except a fond memory of how I may have helped someone, laughed with someone, or had great conversations with someone that they can think back to, and treasure for themselves. That is perfectly fine with me. Because that meant that I gave them a piece of myself, which is the most valuable thing I possess.
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