Time and again we have seen the power of this question; in fact the world we live today is filled with examples of people living their lives out in search of a legacy they want to leave behind. They live their entire lives creating memories which would stay even after they are gone and there are some lethargic ones who believe in leaving no legacy behind as their legacy ( I think there is only one example of it , the guy who writes a blog called Tale Weaver).
If I talk about one person whose answer to this question I definitely loved was that of Randy Pausch. A professor in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon, Pausch with his determination to make his weird childhood dreams true and making sure that he worked hard enough for his students to make their true. He asked himself this question when he was living on borrowed time. Struck with Pancreatic cancer he decided to give his Last Lecture. The Last lecture was a series of lectures where professors spoke about the legacy they would leave behind once they call it a day. Randy spoke for a little over an hour about his legacy and what he strived for. He famously called the lecture a head fake, in principle the lecture was to talk about the legacy but in reality it was for his kids, who were too small to know who really their father was, and what he stood for. His book is one of the must read.
If there is someone like Randy who did his bit to make the world a better place, there is someone like Elizabeth Taylor who made the world a glamorous place to be in. A beautiful woman of her times, she always gave something for the gossip columns to fill space with. I gather, she was a good actress, and has two academy awards to her name. A few movies which are classics but her legacy can very well be summed up with her funeral where she arrived fashionably late by 15 minutes.
Talk about legacy and Hugh Hefner cannot be left behind by much. If the world is a little more open about sexuality then the credit has to go to Hefner. He has lived the sexual fantasy many guys think of, is still the subject of envy of many and also role model for some. But what is more important is that people are more aware of their sexuality, and today having fun playboy style is not really uncommon. Today it is ok to have a little fun and not feel bad about it. Though his work has always been on the wrong side of the lines of morality, it is without any doubt that his legacy will remain long after he leaves this world.
I guess the list can keep going, but the point is that we all are working towards our own little legacies. So let me ask you the same question once again
What is your legacy?
If I talk about one person whose answer to this question I definitely loved was that of Randy Pausch. A professor in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon, Pausch with his determination to make his weird childhood dreams true and making sure that he worked hard enough for his students to make their true. He asked himself this question when he was living on borrowed time. Struck with Pancreatic cancer he decided to give his Last Lecture. The Last lecture was a series of lectures where professors spoke about the legacy they would leave behind once they call it a day. Randy spoke for a little over an hour about his legacy and what he strived for. He famously called the lecture a head fake, in principle the lecture was to talk about the legacy but in reality it was for his kids, who were too small to know who really their father was, and what he stood for. His book is one of the must read.
If there is someone like Randy who did his bit to make the world a better place, there is someone like Elizabeth Taylor who made the world a glamorous place to be in. A beautiful woman of her times, she always gave something for the gossip columns to fill space with. I gather, she was a good actress, and has two academy awards to her name. A few movies which are classics but her legacy can very well be summed up with her funeral where she arrived fashionably late by 15 minutes.
Talk about legacy and Hugh Hefner cannot be left behind by much. If the world is a little more open about sexuality then the credit has to go to Hefner. He has lived the sexual fantasy many guys think of, is still the subject of envy of many and also role model for some. But what is more important is that people are more aware of their sexuality, and today having fun playboy style is not really uncommon. Today it is ok to have a little fun and not feel bad about it. Though his work has always been on the wrong side of the lines of morality, it is without any doubt that his legacy will remain long after he leaves this world.
I guess the list can keep going, but the point is that we all are working towards our own little legacies. So let me ask you the same question once again
What is your legacy?
