I’ve talked about it in other places (my podcast and god knows where else,) but I’ve been thinking a bit about it a lot lately.
My online presence as a legacy.
I’m getting older (50 is about 5 months away,) and I’m starting to look at my life and what will be left of me when I’m dust. I don’t have a lot of worldly possessions, I’m not wealthy. I will be – but that’s another story for another email…
What am I leaving behind? An office full of weird thrift store art, sketchbooks full of ideas and little bits and pieces of me, but I’m starting to see what I do online as a living log of me at a pretty optimal time in my life.
I have my health, for the most part. I’m active. I really enjoy my life. That could end really soon – we just never know. And, as I age, I’m starting to feel that more acutely.
Friends are dying. Family is dying. People are getting sick. Shit is getting weird.
Who knows how long it’ll carry on this way. But – I do know that the record of me that will be online (in perpetuity,) will be one that I will be reasonably proud of.
Are there cringy things? You’re fucking right there are. I do some really, really stupid shit.
But, overall – my online persona is a snapshot of what I am right now.
I don’t want the kids, when the time comes, to look back on my life and see me as the dad who was all business or all shitposting or all meme-warring. I want them to see that I did my work and loved it. I want them to see that I had fun with my friends and that entrepreneurship is fucking AMAZING when you let it be. That it can be seamless and fun.
Even when shit is hard and weird, I try to show that side of my life. Not because I’m trying to impress anyone, but because I want to leave a record of the good part of what we all do. For the young ones. My young ones.
So – I guess what I’m asking is…
When you’re dust, will your kids look back at your online presence and get misty or fall asleep or see you as a douche?
If you don’t have kids – won’t you at least think about your dogs?
They deserve better. We can leave a better legacy.
