TITLE: Legacy AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: September 13, 2018 3:50 PM DESC: ----- BODY: In an interview at The Great Discontent, designer John Gall is asked, "What kind of legacy do you hope to leave?" He replies:
I have no idea; it's not something I think about. It's the thing one has the least control over. I just hope that my kids will have nice things to say about me.
I admire this answer. No one is likely to ask me about my legacy; I'm just an ordinary guy. But it has always seemed strange when people -- presidents, artists, writers, film stars -- are asked this question. The idea that we can or should craft our own legacy like a marketing brand seems venal. We should do things because they matter, because they are worth doing, because they make the world better, or at least better than it would be without us. It also seems like a waste of time. The simple fact is that most of us won't be remembered long beyond our deaths, and only then by close family members and friends. Even presidents, artists, writers, and film stars are mostly forgotten. To the extent that anyone will have a legacy, it will decided in the future by others. As Gall notes, we don't have much control over how that will turn out. History is full of people whose place in the public memory turned out much differently than anyone might have guessed at the time. When I am concerned that I'm not using my time well, it's not because I am thinking of my legacy. It's because I know that time is a precious and limited resource and I feel guilty for wasting it. About the most any of us can hope is that our actions in this life leave a little seed of improvement in the world after we are gone. Maybe my daughters and former students and friends can make the world better in part because of something in the way I lived. If that's what people mean by their legacy, great, but it's likely to be a pretty nebulous effect. Not many of us can be Einstein or Shakespeare. All that said, I do hope my daughters have good things to say about me, now and after I'm gone. I love them, and like them a lot. I want to make their lives happier. Being remembered well by them might also indicate that I put my time on Earth to good use. -----