Who can say what kind of legacy they might leave for future generations to examine and ponder? As for myself, I hope to leave behind an impressive and interesting legacy - I just have to hope I live long enough to figure out what that might be and to leave it! The problem, I think, with answering this question is that we never know when we might "leave," and what we will have accomplished by that time. Almost everyone probably knows what kind of legacy they hope they will leave behind, but no one actually knows what will happen, because life, unfortunately, often ends when we're in "the middle of things."
Like most people, I hope to make a positive impact on the world - whether that be through politics, art, business, or any number of other avenues. I hope that future generations of my family will be able to hear or read about my life and say that I truly made a difference, and was important in some way to our society's history. Of course, many people hope for just this and, in reality, few people can be powerful, impactful people.
One way to leave my history and legacy behind could be to write it down. In high school, I kept a diary and wrote in it nearly every day. Sometimes I wish I had kept up with this activity; as I went away to college and got (very) busy with other facets of my life, I wrote less and less. Now, it's been almost two years since I've written a diary entry. I so enjoy having those high school years documented; I wish I had kept up during my college years. Fortunately, if I discipline myself to write often, I could maybe reverse my lazy and unproductive trend. Maybe if I make a good, measurable goal and monitor myself, I could restart my diary writing habit. (I will think more about this over the next few days.)
However, in this day and age, I think we should really ask ourselves: is writing in a diary even necessary anymore? With social media, we are constantly talking about and updating others on our lives, on our daily activities. One status on my Facebook newsfeed reads: "First interview with a Sydney job went great!" Another says: "I have faith that at some point today I will find the motivation to ride the elevator to the gym." Although both of these Facebook posters are not writing about their daily lives in their diaries (well, I guess I don't really know - maybe they are!), they are posting about their daily lives on the Internet, and those posts will be saved there forever. So, in these technology-driven days, maybe we don't really need traditional pen-and-paper diaries. Maybe future generations will look to the Internet and social media websites for clues about their ancestors.
Certainly, I think that part of the legacy I am leaving for my future relatives is online. It's fascinating - and a little creepy - to realize that most of my life is documented on the Internet. And for many children being born today, their online legacy extends to even before they're born! Tons of parents post their children's in-utero ultrasounds and baby photos to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and countless other social media sites. It seems crazy, but these kids amass huge digital footprints even before they're born!
No matter what form I leave my legacy in, I hope that future generations will be able to decipher who I really was from whatever I leave behind. For example, although my ancestor Stephen Hopkins seems like a rebel, I have no way of knowing what he was really like. I can only hope that whatever information I find or hear about him is accurate and a fair portrayal.
In the photo above, I chose to censor my eyes because through investigating my family lineage, I've realized that I really don't know who I am. I don't know - and will never know - all the relatives who came before me and had some kind of influence on my genes and therefore my personality, appearance, and demeanor. I can only guess based on my research and, clearly, just reading about someone doesn't mean you really know who they are. I have so much more to learn about my family and my background - so much that I don't think this kind of work can ever really be finished. So, I censored my eyes to show that I am a work in progress and always will be, as will be this project.
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