Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.
Shannon Alder
On Friday, I played the series "The beast in me" on Netflix (which I really like so far, it will be a real treat this weekend), in which the billionaire refers to his legacy, when he plans to build a residential and commercial complex in the center of New York, near Central Park, which will bear his name.
I believe that, in addition to the legacy, there is also the urge to collect even greater wealth, but the word "legacy" came to my ears.
What have I done in my life and what will remain after me?
The same question that one of this week's topics had, which was asked by galenkp:
In time (maybe two generations after you're dead) you'll be forgotten, it'll be like your life never existed...but what would you like to be remembered for?
Originally, I didn't think I would take up that topic, I had something in mind about the time of the millennium bug, but encouraged by this series, and the sick desire of the rich to keep his name recorded for future generations, it pushed me to write my thoughts (but also the facts...).
I am not an artist, painter, writer, sculptor, so that my paintings, sculptures or books live on for centuries after my death.
I am not a journalist, or a famous photographer, so that my name can be found in the list of those who have won the Pulitzer Prize. I'm not even a chef, so my name should be in a book next to Michelin stars.
I am not involved in acting or politics (although it is the same profession), so that the whole world hears about me and my name is written in textbooks.
I would not like to get into political waters, and with wrong motives lead to the fact that the citizens of the world know me as a historical person who was on the wrong side of humanity.
I am an ordinary person, like almost all the other 8 billion, who at some point, the question of how many years after he disappears, will be completely forgotten.
Five years ago I watched the cartoon Coco, which deals with this theme for adults.
Did I cry while watching it?
Maybe not, but I was close...
In a fantastic way, it is shown how one falls into oblivion. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it.
After I looked at it, I wondered about what will be left behind when I'm gone.
I don't have children, so I won't have grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or great-grandchildren...
Already in the next generation, there will be no one who will pass on the memory of me, as their ancestor.
It's a bit sad, but considering that in a hundred years all memory of me would certainly be lost, I don't regret it too much.
I try harder to leave a good memory for the people around me with whom I live now.
I try to be good to them, to be honest, not to deceive anyone for anything, I maintain contacts with family members and friends...
And to all the children who surround me.
For this reason, I took the epithets of favorite uncle or grandfather.
In large and bold letters, I write my name in the hearts and memories of those I am surrounded by.
I'm not Dostoyevsky, so that I wrote books that are still bought, so that people all over the world know about me.
It is enough that the people around me know me, and I will be happy if they pass on to their descendants the story about me, that there was a duskobgd who once found himself in trouble, helped them and was a good man.
I read somewhere that a society becomes great when there are people living in it who, like old people, plant trees that they know will not live long enough to enjoy the shade of their crowns. The coolness will be enjoyed by those who are yet to come.
It is a legacy that we can all leave for the future, plant trees, do not throw garbage, protect rivers, lakes, seas, nature.
Do not spend resources more than we need.
Not to start wars that lead to the destruction of culture and people, to preserve works of art, so that the heirs on this planet can enjoy, as we, who now live on this planet, are still doing the same.
And maybe it's not too late for me?
I will almost certainly not win the Nobel Prize, nor invent a medicine that will help humanity.
I won't come up with some mathematical formula that will be studied by future students, nor will I have some wise sentence that will be passed down through generations like the wisdom of the ancient Greeks.
But maybe I still have time to leave some mark on this world, which will last longer than those 100 years.
Maybe I will manage to buy a piece of land and make a park that I can call my name, where I will plant the seeds of tall trees, which in 50 and 100 years will still live, passing on to some new kids who will play under the trees the story of the one who planted them...