“Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.”
What if this is true? What if life is but a dream and what if the elephant in the room – which we call death – is the reality?
What if?
If we knew this to be true, how would we live our lives? If the boat represents our life, and the stream, time, and if life is but a dream, something we know that we will wake up from one day, would we live our lives more gently? Would we be merrier? Would we treat others better?
What if?
I was thinking about the legacy we leave behind. How we value that. How we quantify a life well-lived. Who gets to decide what a life well-lived even means? And I think this goes right along with life being a dream. If life is but a dream, why worry about leaving a legacy?
Many people leave children and grandchildren behind. They keep humankind chugging along – that is their legacy. But many others, like me, don’t have children. My branch on my family’s genealogical tree ends abruptly with me and my brother, who produced no offspring. So, what legacy do I leave behind? Maybe my writing? This blog? The book I’m working on? And how long would that legacy last? A day? A year? Maybe, just maybe, my legacy is just a life lived, mostly okay, not a ton of regrets, attempting to be a better person every day. Some days with success, some days, well, not so much.
Does it even matter?
Perhaps not. A legacy, if not a physical being, is simply a creation of the ego. “I must leave behind some piece of myself, in perpetuity.” Really? For whom? In a week, a year, a generation, who will care? Even this Earth is short-lived in the grand scheme of things. Everything will become something else. Even our “legacy.”
Life is but a dream.
So, then, honestly, what does matter? If we don’t need to live our life to leave a legacy, how should we live our life? If this life is simply a dream, how should we approach this life?
How about living out our time, in our current, dream-like reality, with happiness and all that encompasses? Enjoyment. Passion. Curiosity. Wellness. Compassion. Integrity. Energy. Fun. How ‘bout that?
Merrily, merrily, merrily…
I know this for a fact: depending on when I die there may be a few people who will miss me. But once they’re gone, well, that’s pretty much it. And I’m okay with that. Because what I’m living for is not to leave some treasure behind as my legacy, but rather to simply live the best life I can, in the best way I can. Each day trying to be a little bit better. A little more compassionate. Have a little more fun. Enjoy everything just a little bit more.
If this life is simply a dream, what can it possibly hurt to try and enjoy each day just a little bit more?
Namaste 🙏
~jwb~