3.7.05

Being 'Somebody'

Almost everybody wants to be somebody. They want to make something of their life; to be remembered after they’re gone. To this same end, I’ve noticed that people take different roads. Seemingly as numerous as the people themselves.

Some people try to do this with power; reshaping the world in their image, hoping that maybe they’ll change things permanently and thus make their mark. These are the Robert Moses’, and George Bush’s, Mao’s and Hitler’s of the world. Then there are the artists who want to affect the world the their work; sadly many of these people are not appreciated until after their dead. Next are, of course, people who have children, extending their memory with family. People just want to see that their life had some effect on other people. So they didn’t live their whole life for naught.

I have a goal of my own, which I’ve had for as long as I can remember:

I want the people I’ve met to think that they’re a better person for having known me. I don’t need to have ‘changed their life’ or any such delusion of grandeur, just a small sliver of ‘better’ will do. Maybe when we’re all old and gray and they hear that I’ve died they’ll think back and have something good to mutter about me.

Ultimately we’re all like cells in a body. We die and get replaced, but the larger organism lives on. Humanity lives on, for better or worse. You may be remembered for a few generations, or a few hundred years if you’ve been deemed very important. But how many people can you name who were lived between the years 1100 and 1400 BCE.. ya, neither can I.