Remember
Why do we want to be remembered so badly? Why do we write, sing, and dance.
Why do we pass things down the generations? Why do we tell tall tails and short stories?
Is it so that we won’t be forgotten once we pass away? What makes us want to be
significant even though we won’t reap the benefits or enjoy the compliments once we are
six feet under? Maybe it’s not for later, maybe it’s for now. Maybe we write to help
others. Maybe that sad story of conflict and resolution that you wrote is the only thing
that could have resonated with that person down in the dumps, and shed light on the
hopes for resolution. Maybe the way you sang that song, the song that was heard a
thousand times, but the way you sang it with your tone, with your timbre, with your heart,
sent shivers down the spine of the listener. With eyes closed and ears open one may have
seen the vast beauty of heaven or the steps to redemption. Maybe how you dance touched
someone so deeply that they began to want to dance themselves. The swift beauty of your
body movement may have moved even the very soul of the viewer compelling them to
take action.
To be significant, to think differently then someone else, to do something that
someone else can’t, that is how you get remembered. But why, why do we want to have
part of us stay here when we die? Is it possibly because our minds are terrified of the idea
of no longer being? So much so that when we try to think of anything past what we
already know our minds go blank. Infinity… we use what we know a week, a month, a
year, ten years, a hundred… now times that by…? Forever has no reference and I don’t
know about you but that stops me dead in my tracks, makes me weak in the knees, and
makes me think, well then how significant am I if I leave nothing. Maybe not at all.
Honestly I can barely remember this morning let alone ten years ago. If I don’t stand out I
will not be remembered. BUT, just because I am not remembered by millions does not
make my impact lesser it just makes it more intimate. I’d rather deeply impact one person
with my art then have a million people remember a little bit. So what is it really to be
remembered and why do we want it so bad? I think being remembered comes from
making some feel what you felt. The transfer of feeling is the foundation of humanity. I
will write how I feel, I will sing how I want, and I will dance how I please, and that is
how I want to be remembered.