For many people, legacy is a huge part of life. Which is somewhat disheartening, actually. So many of us spend our whole lives just preparing for death. Views of "legacy" - or the way you're remembered by others after you've died - differ from person to person. Some people really, really care how others see them, and some people couldn't possibly care less. For many, this carries into death. Sometimes it changes in between; a person would rather remain unseen or unnoticed in life, but leave behind a lasting impression in death.
I try to go about my life with the mindset that there are very few certainties. Even the event of waking up in the morning isn't a certainty. But if/once I do wake up, the few certainties of my day are that I will eat food, and I will go to sleep again eventually. And those just serve as outlines for my day. In between those certainties, anything could happen. Keeping this in mind helps me...keep an open mind (that sentence was funny). It helps me stay in anticipation of the things that could happen. It helps things to happen, actually. If you're closed-minded to the possibility of new things happening, then new things won't happen because you're simply not open to them. It's like that scene from Finding Nemo. Marlin says, "I promised I'd never let anything happen to him." Dory responds with "That's a funny thing to promise. You can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo." You have to be open to the possibility of things happening to you so that they can actually happen. Life's more fun that way.
As for how other people see me... I used to care. A lot, actually. But now I'm more concerned with how I see myself. Every once and a while, I'll ask myself questions such as, "How are you doing? What have you been doing? Who have you been taking to? How have you been spending your time? Are you happy? Are you safe? Are you healthy - mentally and physically? Are you content? Are you well?" (Read the rest of that post here.) I've come to the conclusion that if I can say yes to every question after "How have you been spending your time," then who cares what anyone else thinks of me? If I'm happy with myself, just the way I am NOW, I wouldn't want to change for anyone anyway.
With all of that said (we're going back up to the legacy thing now), I want to be remembered - I want my legacy to be one of simplicity and carefreeness. I want people to be inspired by my ability to go with the flow, while also maintaining my own personal "vibe." I want people to see me as an example of someone who is willing to investigate what it means to be truly authentic and comfortable in their own bare-ness. Even in death, I want to influence other people to ask the questions that take longer than five minutes to think through and answer. I want people to seek, not necessarily with the intent to know, because some of the things out there are too big for us. And I want people to know that, and to be okay with it.
h
I try to go about my life with the mindset that there are very few certainties. Even the event of waking up in the morning isn't a certainty. But if/once I do wake up, the few certainties of my day are that I will eat food, and I will go to sleep again eventually. And those just serve as outlines for my day. In between those certainties, anything could happen. Keeping this in mind helps me...keep an open mind (that sentence was funny). It helps me stay in anticipation of the things that could happen. It helps things to happen, actually. If you're closed-minded to the possibility of new things happening, then new things won't happen because you're simply not open to them. It's like that scene from Finding Nemo. Marlin says, "I promised I'd never let anything happen to him." Dory responds with "That's a funny thing to promise. You can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo." You have to be open to the possibility of things happening to you so that they can actually happen. Life's more fun that way.
As for how other people see me... I used to care. A lot, actually. But now I'm more concerned with how I see myself. Every once and a while, I'll ask myself questions such as, "How are you doing? What have you been doing? Who have you been taking to? How have you been spending your time? Are you happy? Are you safe? Are you healthy - mentally and physically? Are you content? Are you well?" (Read the rest of that post here.) I've come to the conclusion that if I can say yes to every question after "How have you been spending your time," then who cares what anyone else thinks of me? If I'm happy with myself, just the way I am NOW, I wouldn't want to change for anyone anyway.
With all of that said (we're going back up to the legacy thing now), I want to be remembered - I want my legacy to be one of simplicity and carefreeness. I want people to be inspired by my ability to go with the flow, while also maintaining my own personal "vibe." I want people to see me as an example of someone who is willing to investigate what it means to be truly authentic and comfortable in their own bare-ness. Even in death, I want to influence other people to ask the questions that take longer than five minutes to think through and answer. I want people to seek, not necessarily with the intent to know, because some of the things out there are too big for us. And I want people to know that, and to be okay with it.
h
I appreciate that your juxtaposition of "simplicity and carefreeness" with the challenge of depth ("ask the questions that take longer than five minutes") mirrors Finding Nemo; whose target audience was children, but was written with several complex themes in play.
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