being remembered

 We all want to be remembered. I think that is a universal human emotion. The trick is in leaving behind reminders. That's the reason some pursue fame or fortune. They tend to be the people that are remembered. It's the common man that is often forgotten about except for a few families and friends. Even then a few generations will pass, and you will fade in anonymity. At best you do become a name and a date on a family tree. I've spent some time hanging those names on the branches myself. I try to fill in the blanks as best as I can. Are those people remembered? The truth is they are not. You can't remember someone you never knew. But we say, as long as their name is spoken, they are not forgotten. We say that for our own benefit a sort of reassurance that we will not be forgotten.

 What reminders will you leave behind? Unless it is a great fortune, or significant material things, what will it be? I don't think it is something we get to choose. We never know what will become of importance to others, what memento or memory they cherish above all else. It could be a word or phrase said at precisely the right time. It may be a simple card or scrap of paper. Consider autographs as an example. They have become quite collectable over the centuries. What is that value? Simply that the person signed their name, and you now possess that, as though you own a piece of them. The autograph of a common man is worth what? Not much. That has to be attached to fame or fortune or possibly notoriety. 

 But what is this desire to be remembered all about? For me I'd have to say it is the desire to be heard. I don't want to be quiet even when I'm dead! I just have this desire to communicate with others. Yes, I've been accused of being a know it all, opinionated, and called a host of other names. I'm quite aware of all that, and I just don't care. It's who I am. I hope I am quoted one day. Being quoted is a compliment in my opinion. When we want to add emphasis or credibility to a statement, we will quote famous people. That's because it has already been decided that those people knew what they were talking about! Hard to argue with Einstein or any of the ancient Greek philosophers. Or quotes from famous authors, politicians and artists of any kind. This quote may sum up my thoughts and so I'll include it:    

Even the simplest of us, it is true, hanker after the discovery of some meaning in life, and when a writer helps to discover one for us in a phrase, we quote him for a generation.... the "Eureka" of the depths of our nature on discovering that things mean something after all. ~Robert Lynd  

It does seem like we should be remembered, even the simplest of us. We may not have discovered the meaning in life, or of life, however you choose to view that, but others can discover themselves in you. Often others are upset when you tell them what they already know about themselves, but don't want to believe. You do have to become comfortable with yourself before you can be comfortable with others. I think, like Robert Lynd pointed out, that we all want to believe that things mean something after all. We mean something, after all, is how I read that. That's what we all believe, we do mean something and what we do matters. We want to be remembered, for that.