Real Talk with OSYL: Rona Series Episode 28
Welcome to a new episode of Real Talk from OSYL. In this episode, we have a discussion and share our thoughts on legacies and what they mean to us.
Though this can be a breezy short read, there are a couple ways to listen to the podcast. For the audio portion of the podcast, you can listen below or download directly here: https://realtalkwithosyl.buzzsprout.com/
The podcast will also be on other platforms like Spotify, Apple, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts and InTune Radio! Just search for OSYL!
Legacies are a huge part of our conversations. Whether we are actively aware of it or not, every action we make is another notch in the story we leave at the end of our journey. To the average person, we may not always have a book or film made in our honor, but through our daily impacts, we hope that it leaves imprints long after we are gone. As mentioned in our episode, legacies are abstract thoughts until we depart from this world. However you contemplate the after life, we all want some form of recognition or remembrance. Just like the previous episode (our discussion on mortality and the meaning of life), the idea of mortality and grievances is all subjective. There seems to be infinite ways we feel and embrace our lives. The idea of legacies is similar. It is all subjective, and there appears to exist infinite legacies, and more still being created. In this episode, the same 3 that was on the previous episode link up again to continue their thoughts on legacies. The questions they discuss are:
What is our definition of a legacy?
And finally, what do we want in our own legacy?
We all have an idea of how we want to be remembered. Whether to be framed in a stoic pose we have imagined for ourselves, in the foundation we have established, or in knowledge and emotions we have departed and instilled in others, there is no right or wrong answer of how we leave a legacy. The idea of leaving a legacy is like writing a summary of our lives. Though written, the act of writing it can actually just be a metaphor. Either way, whatever we attempt to leave behind, there isn't ever a timeline of when to accomplish it. Just like goals, they are never ending and always evolving. No matter our triumph or failures, our legacies continue to be written and rewritten, it's more of a matter of how we decide on what we want to leave behind.
For some, our legacy is defined by carrying on and forward existing legacies. The inspiration from what our forefathers have done to establish a foundation of wealth (more than monetary terms, of course) for generations, we may want to continue that trajectory in their memory. For instance, we may look up to our grandparents who sacrificed a lot to make it as immigrants in a foreign land, and worked hard to establish their own credibility. In what they had established for us, we find motivation to take it further for the continuing sake of the family and our family's future generation. In the end, no matter where you want to excel--be it at work, school, or family--we act on some sort of inspiration to get us through our day to day life. And however we define it, it feels like part of the journey is figuring out what we want to leave behind.