I read somewhere once that you should only leave your home in the morning once all things have been taken care of, as if it were your last day on ths earth.
All disputes should have been resolved, all bills paid, all incriminating evidence removed and you should have already made peace with your Maker.
What legacy would you leave behind? Could you name five things you'd be remembered for? In Higham's case:
1 The things he wrote - the blog and novels;
2 That he tried to spread a bit of happiness round, with partial success;
3 The energy, organization and strange sense of humour;
4 That he was sure he'd stumbled upon the answer to life;
5 Exposure of the cabals which run this world.
Which five things would you least like people to find? In Higham's case:
1 Love letters and photos of former lovers;
2 Flat that needed renovation and hadn't been done;
3 Uncompleted novels;
4 The true state of his finances;
5 The backlog of good intentions never brought to fruition.
"I am just going outside and may be some time."
[In Higham's case,he plans to be back, either in person or in spirit.]
I'llonly be leaving behind one thing that has any meaning. The kids that I have tried to educate with a sense of right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteI have a much bigger list of things that I would destoy if I knew I was not coming back. None as innocent as your list and many probably illegal now.
I like to leave my house every day with most things UNfinished.
ReplyDeleteIf you live every day like you won't come home instead of living the day TO come home, sooner or later it will seep into your soul and you will not WANT to come home :)
I'd be leaving behind who I am, which isn't much. I have no visions grandeur in my head but I'm not suggesting that you do, James. Also, commenting on the Blogger trick of hiding the photo, I had to post the two of my futon via Flickr. Good job, Blogger!
ReplyDeleteNice post, James, food for thought.
ReplyDeleteIn my case I won't be leaving much, except:
1) the pants under my bed
2) the half finished crappy novel
3) the unsigned contract
4) the mouldy tea cup
5) my precious books, even the unread ones. They need a good home.
Nice comments all - I suppose I was just feeling maudlin [reginald].
ReplyDeleteThings to be remembered for:
ReplyDeleteLoving my dog
Loving Italy
Good cooking smells [which I would hope would be lingering in the flat]
The smell of "Paris" perfume [which I hope would be lingering in the flat also]
unfinished writings - some scandalous!
Wouldn't want to be remembered for:
unswept floors [was gonna do it tomorrow]
oven that needed cleaning [ditto re tomorrow]
With you on true financial state! [Was NOT gonna do that tomorrow or any time soon!]
Photos to be sorted into albums [yep - tomorrow!]
unreplied to blog comments [was gonna do tonight!]
James, how morbid!
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined to agree with LN. I don't want to live like I might die tomorrow... I'd like to expect to live for a long, long time, so I won't become too anxious.
I still have too many things to figure out.
I'm with Bag, with my kids. Once you have them they are really all that count. I have no delusion that I have much to leave behind.
ReplyDeleteI am of the view that once you are dead that is it and don't really care about any dirty laundry. The impact of death on those left behind is very far reaching and I think the other stuff is pretty minor.