What Will Be Your Legacy?

Abstract

In 2016, I moved from the home I had lived in for 30 years. To prepare for packing (aka: procrastinate) I read Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Well here I am nearly 3 years later in my new home, and I am finding I still do not “find joy” in some of the things I chose to bring with me. So, I am in the process of de-cluttering again. To “prepare” this time, I came across a book titled The Stories We Leave Behind, by Laura H. Gilbert. I love her philosophy. To be honest, I never did get folding my t-shirts into tiny little squares that would stack up next to each other in neat, color-coded rows. I never figured out how I could tell if the t-shirt was v-neck or crew neck or what the length of the sleeves were. By the time I figured out which one I wanted to wear, I had a mess, and to be true to the Kondo method, I’d have to take the time to get the shirts back into those tiny little squares again. Let’s just say, that didn’t last long. So, when I discovered Gilbert, I was on it. Don’t get me wrong. Marie Kondo has a huge following. She authored a best-selling book and now hosts her own show on Netflix. However, I do think we all have to find what works for us. Marie got me this far, so I thanked her and her book for what they brought to my life, and I passed the book on. So now on to Gilbert’s book and more importantly her philosophy. In her book, she describes “a legacy-based approach to dealing with our stuff and preserving our stories.” She says we should give more thought as to why we hold on to things, what it says about us and ultimately the story we want to leave behind—our legacy. Gilbert reminds us that there is more to our legacy than money and property. We leave so much more behind. Her philosophy in de-cluttering is about “curating our life” with these 3 things in mind. n How we want to be remembered?