NickVenturella.com 3-19-17

Legacy

March 19, 2017

Do you worry about your legacy?

I'm not talking about leaving a heap of money to some charitable organization when you die.

I'm talking about the lasting mark you make on the world that your kids and their kids and others see/discover when you're gone.

For as long as I've been an artist I have worried about the story I'm leaving behind. Am I making a mark that others may recognize as significant, even in a small way? Is it enough? Will anyone even care?

This is in part why I journal as regularly as I can. I have volumes for my kids and their kids to comb through to get to know me, for better or for worse.

I think this worry about legacy and an impatience for the time it takes to output more creative expression comes from a need to feel significant.

Significance in a way that one day when I'm gone someone can look upon the things I did in my life and say, "his was a life worth living." ...simply meaning that I did some interesting things, and perhaps wrote about things that make some future beings stop to think about their impact, and perhaps in some small way I positively impact their life.

My wife so keenly pointed out that I'm afraid of being forgotten, which is very true.

As a sensitive boy who thought differently than many around me, I grew up feeling insignificant, so when others recognized creative talent in me, I latched onto that and fostered it (as a musician, artist and writer) as a way to continue to get that recognition and feel significant.

I know in my heart of hearts that regardless of what I leave behind my life is worth living, and I'm trying not to put so much pressure on myself about it.

Especially, when I know I have a wonderful wife and two boys who want nothing more than to hang out with me while I'm here, right now...and truly, that time spent together will be the most meaningful legacy I can leave them.

What are your thoughts on legacy. Hit reply and tell me about it. I guarantee you're not alone.