October Advent, Day 6: This One’s for Posterity  

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Underneath Paris rests the bones of about six million people. I’ve stood in those catacombs and stared at the seemingly endless stacks of femurs and skulls, and when I did it struck me that history hasn’t cared much for most of us. There have been a handful of heroes entombed in pyramids, abbeys, and cathedrals — and then there’s everyone else beneath the ground (peasants, artisans, farmers, jokers), forgotten within a generation or two.

It reminds me of a quote from Banksy, wherein he channels the words of the neuroscientist David Eagleman.

Banksy says:

They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing, and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.

When somebody says your name for the last time. For most of the six million people under Paris, that time likely came quickly. There’s no way to trace who is who down there, and they certainly didn’t each leave behind work that solidifies their name in the history books.

Will it be the same for you?

How do you ensure that your name will survive time?

It’s a question I prefer not to ask myself because I’m well aware that I lack the genius, charisma, and beauty of the intellectuals, mystics, and celebrities whose names will live on long after death. I’m at peace with my lack, but I’m not at peace with the idea that my name could die soon after my body.

So what could I do to prolong the life of my name?

I think one answer lies in leaving behind something directly for posterity. When I was eight, my grandma gave me a book of journal entries and photographs of my grandpa, who died just before I was born. I never knew him, but I’ve read the book, looked at the pictures, shared the stories. His name lives on. I know the good he did in life. And on it goes: I plan to show the book to my son.

Perhaps that is the best we can do to ensure that our name lives long beyond our body: Leave behind something directly for posterity. Aim to have your name remembered through the generations.