What if “legacy” doesn’t matter?
I used to want to build a “legacy.” I wanted to be remembered after I was gone.
But someone said, “Legacy? So when you’re dead, you’ll still be insecure?”
I think they were right. Isn’t wanting to be remembered caused by a feeling that you aren’t good enough. That the existence you are blessed with isn’t enough?
What if legacy doesn’t matter? If you believe, like I do, that we are each an insignificant spec of dust on an insignificant spec of dust hurdling through space, it’s hard to argue that legacy matters.
Even if you’re remembered when you’re gone, you’ll eventually be forgotten. To strive for legacy is to delay the inevitable.
And wouldn’t the pursuit of legacy actually keep you from doing something worth being remembered for?
If you think you’re smart, you’ll make yourself dumb. If you think you’re nice, you’ll make yourself cruel.
If you think you’re leaving a legacy, you’ll do forgettable things.
You’ll do things because of their “impact.” You’ll feel self-satisfied for thinking you’re making an impact. You’ll feel so good about yourself that you’ll forget to actually do something real.
I don’t want to do things for impact. I don’t want to do things to be remembered. I want to discover my truth. Even if it’s ugly and scary at first, I believe that underneath the mud and blood and dirt and dust is something worth discovering.
It’s by trying to discover that you end up doing something memorable. That is how you have an impact. That is how you build a legacy.
Not that it matters…
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Cato supposedly said, "I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue, than why I have one." I think it is better that you give others a blueprint to being a better person and let that perpetuate through generations regardless of who gets the credit. Great thought inducing post.
Interesting, I would have thought the opposite. If you strive to leave behind something that was better than what was there before, surely this is a worthy cause?
I suppose it depends from which perspective you view your actions: from a personal (ego) perspective or from the perspective of those that might benefit now and in the future from your actions. One of these options will likely lead to frustration and disappointment, as you allude.
V interesting. Thanks for sharing.
What if the goal of a legacy is not eternal life, but sticking around in the heads of people who knew you so that you can continue to make them feel bad about themselves from beyond the grave? That's at least acheivable.
Haha, that made me laugh out loud. Sounds like a noble goal.