5 Ways To Leave A Legacy

How do you want to be remembered? This is a question that I ask sometimes of the individuals I work with. Occasionally the person has thought this through and the answer is on the tip of their tongue, but more often than not, this is not something that people have considered prior to our discussion.

Legacy work is something that can be as simple or as involved as you want it to be. It can be something your family works on or something that you take full ownership of, and no matter who contributes to the “project” the outcome is something that loved ones can keep forever. Your legacy should tell your story and there are so many ways to do this beyond creating a typical scrapbook, which is also a very nice way to capture someone’s life and legacy.

5 ways to complete legacy work which do not involve a scrapbook:

1. Record short clips of your daily life whether they are candid or serious, these recordings are something that loved ones will cherish forever.

2. Write letters to your loved ones. Maybe these letters are something you give while you’re well and able, or maybe you leave the letters for loved ones to read once you’ve passed which could remind them of what they meant to you.

3. Leave family with things you’ve created. Whether it is a quilt, a poem you’ve written or a photo you’ve taken it will provide loved ones with a tangible piece of your creative energy that is indispensable.

4. Create a memory box and start anytime! Save cards, medals, pamphlets from events such as graduations or weddings and photos for example which loved ones can look through to understand what was important to you, and also prompt memories to be rehashed while you’re well and able to share.

5. Identify something unique and meaningful, however common or boring it may seem, that loved ones will see and be reminded of you. For example, maybe a gin and tonic drink with a wedge of lime AND lemon is exactly how you made them. Leave the recipe if you want or tell loved ones that for each time they order a G&T you expect them to forever think of you.

Your legacy work could be something you start today and accumulate over time, or it could be something that we work together to capture when you’re closer to the end of life. There is no right or wrong time to begin thinking about how you want to be remembered 1, 5 or even 40 years after you have passed.