Remember the old advice about topics you’re supposed to avoid in polite company? Religion, politics and money usually make the list. But there’s another subject in our society that is so taboo, we’re not even supposed to think about it, much less discuss it with others. That subject is death. Especially and particularly our own deaths.
Death—the idea of it, the fear of it—is not just discomforting; it’s downright terrifying to most of us. But the fact of the matter is that we are all getting more old than we are young. (That’s true of nearly every Western society, by the way, not just of individuals). The reality is that much as we hate to contemplate it, we’re not going to be around forever. So we try to ignore, dismiss, or avoid any thought of what comes after—after.
And what goes right along with this is an attempt to deny the aging process, too. The logic is clear: if you get older, you’re getting closer to your own personal “D Day.” Therefore, Western culture in particular not only doesn’t honor the notion of aging, we cringe at it, we mock it, and we deny it.
And when we deny both aging and its ultimate consequence, death, we also deny something fundamentally important about ourselves. Human beings seem to have an innate need to create some type of “immortality” for ourselves. For some people, this may center on the idea of an afterlife in some other sphere. But whether we believe in an afterlife or not, most of us also want to know that we will leave an impact here on earth. And, whether we have ever thought about it or not, the choice of whether and what kind of legacy to leave here on earth is ours alone.
We often talk about creating a legacy, and that seems to be the right word. Because ultimately, legacy building is a creative task. it relies upon imagination, hard work and hope: three things without which nothing creative would ever exist. We have dreams for the future; we labor to accomplish them or at least set them in motion, and we rely on a fundamental sense of hope that they will bear fruit in years to come. That's really what legacy is--hope in the future, in things that are lasting and valuable not just for one person or over the span of one life, but well into the future.
What do you hope for the future? What will you create that will live after you? What will be your legacy?
