It is often said in motivational circles of business, high performance or self improvement that the purpose of life is to create something that will live forever. A legacy.
I don’t think this is the highest purpose of an evolving human life. Not even close.
To me, creating a legacy is a patriarchal sentiment. It feels rooted in fear: fear of insignificance, fear of non existence, fear of a life not lived. It rings of this rationale: if we feel empty, lost or a lack of purpose in our lives, the solution is to create something larger than ourselves which will live beyond us. We will displace our need for a sense of purpose, peace and fulfillment now in this life and work to push it into the future.
The idea of creating a legacy is also linked to the idea of being a “good person.” The concept of being a good person is directly connected to what society believes collectively to be acceptable, and to a societal standard definition of what a professional and humanitarian life looks like. It does not hold space for the concepts of true creativity, poetry, connection and celebration of the earth or care for fellow humans outside of capitalism. For a greater look at this concept through the lens of being a woman, I love herbalist Asia Sulers words on being Nice Girls Vs. Kind Women.
With the current societal definitions of a “good person” It is possible to create a legacy without being a kind person, listening to your heart, or creating beauty.
Jeff Bezos, C.E.O and founder of Amazon is creating a legacy, with a personal net worth of over $100 billion dollars and a business which has monopolized and changed the industry of online shopping. World changing? Definitely. For the benefit and equality of humanity? You decide.
Hitler created an impact on history and millions of lives which will never be forgotten. His actions will certainly live forever.
But we also have examples of people like Mother Theresa, Marva Collins, Martin Luther King Jr. None of who set out to build a legacy. They weren’t seeking to build an empire or single handedly change the world, though they ended up having a profound impact on the ill and dying lower caste in India, the education of African American children in Chicago, and the fate and fight for the civil rights of people of color in America, respectively.
These stories are deeply inspiring but we mustn’t misinterpret them. It is not our job to emulate the lives of those who have been “good”, “brave” or “impactful.”
What drove these people and so many others to show up in the pages of history books and be referred to as synonyms for human greatness in their own way was their willingness to know themselves and commit to their own unshakable truth. They went against the cultural norms of the day to live that truth.
The only thing which has merit and value is our connection to and expression of our own ever changing truth. And it is not our job to sacrifice what our soul wants, for for the desires of our culture, society or family.
Whatever we do in our work, our families, our world, whatever we create no matter how big or small, successful, (publicly acclaimed or otherwise,) it is through the profound intimacy of knowing and listening to our deepest Self that we touch on the miracle of our existence.
Knowing ourselves, committing, living and creating from our truth gives us the opportunity to leave a legacy of an authentic life. This may one day lead us to be published in history books and acclaimed by the masses, or not.
What is important is that we stop trying to create from a place of “should”, being “good enough”, being accepted, praised OR making our existence meaningful out of a fear of nonexistence.
Once we unravel this mental conditioning we come to experience:
Deep personal meaning in our life
Unwavering connection to our truth
The grit to stay the course and witness the miracles and true impact of following our heart, not our head.
We find that the simple act of living our truth creates a new world, one in which we can both shape and be shaped like water over wood: flowing endlessly, fully receiving the precious caresses of life, and being continuously worn into our true shape, our edges softened, our poetry revealed.
We can remember that we are enough and we can shape the world into something new by the beauty of our existence. This is a revolution of healing.