During my Internet travels I came across a 2017 blog post by Sweden-based photographer Micael Widell. The title: Who will remember you in 100 years? The basic idea: we’re all going to die one day.
This does not depress me. It inspires me.
“Our utter insignificance in the grander scheme of things is liberating.”
My father died in 2004. When I cleaned out his apartment, I noticed hundreds of books with similar how-to titles: Learn How to Play Piano, Speak French, Master the Computer, Draw Figures and Write a Book.
My father never played the piano that collected dust in his living room. Neither did he learn how to use computers he purchased in his later life. He didn’t draw or speak a language other than English. And, he never wrote a book.
While my father was living, I was aware that he yearned for a more creative life, but his fears kept him from it. In rare, unguarded moments his sadness of dreams unrealized would surface. With all to a man I loved with all my heart, I’m not going out like that.
“Tomorrow is promised to no one,” Dad often said. I’m old enough to know this is true. Friends and family have fallen ill and died. My time is coming. I don’t know when. That’s what inspires me. To live for NOW, not get comfortable with status quo. And, to live according to my own script.
I’m in love with the Internet. It connects me to people, places, wonders and ideas that inspire, challenge and affirm – such as a blog post from a Swedish photographer who lives nearly 5,000 miles from my home in the U.S. “Our utter insignificance in the grander scheme of things is liberating,” writes Widell, “as it highlights and acknowledges how little risk there is to doing things.”
Read Micael Widell’s blog post, Who will remember you 100 years from now?