Thinking about life, the end of it, and what it will have been all about
Been thinking about end of life and legacy. And besides solving the most obvious problems, such as ensuring the successors are educated slightly better, have better network, and in general are healthier, I don't think there's much else I would like to have done. Like, I'm serious: everything I can think of (improve the environment, leave a mark, solve a big problem) would be 99% virtue-signaling and 1% noble, bur unrealistic goals. Damn, that's some hard thoughts visiting me today.
Disclaimer: my mental health is alright, this is not a suicide post or whatever. I'm not a peachy clean and in perfect health, but not terminally ill (I think, haha). I'm also not in a state of despair. So these thoughts are truly, genuinely (as much as I can subjectively guarantee to the reader and to myself) pragmatic and are essentially an attempt to set some kind of a goal, I guess, because I've outgrown all the goals I've set before, mostly before I had a fair shot at achieving them. Like, shit is weird, but if I take the fundamental parts of life and try to base the goal-setting process off of them, what would such goal be?
Mar 10 · 8 weeks ago · 🤔 1
7 Comments ↓
I keep thinking about Swedish Cleaning... The idea of my kids going through piles of my stuff is horrifying...
Ever read The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker? It really does seem most of the preoccupations of life are an elaborate psychological cope with the fact that it will end. Most people are blissfully able to never recognize this, but some of us are doomed to do so. I'm not sure a goal for life is even a coherent notion. You can get a lot of mileage out of Buddha or Ecclesiastes though.
I'm wondering if I had passed away, is if my art will be put in museums are something, my traditional paintings at least, I have too much stuff, mainly clothes.
🚀 lars_the_bear · Mar 11 at 07:58:
@stack : do it. You'll feel much better. I still have a fair way to go, but I'll be happy if my only legacy is that my family don't have to clean up after me.
👻 darkghost · Mar 11 at 11:36:
Having watched my biggest accomplishments be undone while I'm still alive, I'm quite nihilistic about the whole legacy thing. Maybe there's enough time that I'll change my mind.
🐝 pirkka [OP] · Mar 11 at 15:37:
@Aeolus I love books, but usually alternate between self-help b.s. that's essential for work (I work with a lot of managers) and cup-refilling, heart-healing fiction (think a fairly narrow genre range between Hemingway and Ishiguro; no Sally Rooney or such). Philosophy never gets caught in my net, for some reason. Epictetus, I own a book, but never opened it. Guess it's time for me to check out the one you're mentioning
🚀 lars_the_bear · Mar 11 at 18:28:
@pirkka : "Epictetus, I own a book, but never opened it." Do yourself a favour, and read the darned thing ;) If nothing else, it's good to see how folks two thousand-odd years ago struggled with the same shit we do.