The Sixty-Sixth Question: What We Leave Behind
A recent trip to Poland has me thinking about what we talk about when we talk about legacy.
One more prompt from the road. Currently in Poznan, Poland waiting to catch a train to Warsaw, where I’ll spend my last few days here.
Answering the Question
When we prepared for 2024, I told you that my word for the year would be FOCUS. That I wanted to hone in and really sort my intentions on accomplishing a few key things in assorted areas of my life. Six months in, I feel pretty good about having accomplished that. I put my head down and finished my book proposal, Ryan and I concerted and launched LOUDMOUTH, and I put in the work to finish my first marathon (funnily enough as I’m writing this I’m overhearing two Englishmen in this cafe talk about the time suck that is training for a marathon).
How do I keep up the momentum? In turning that question over this week, I started to see everything I had done so far this year as planting. Training for the marathon, writing the proposal, launching the business…these things, and others, erected the scaffolding. They’ve given me the framework for what I want to build with the rest of my year. Now, I have to build.
So my word for the rest of the year is going to be EXECUTE. Close the deals, accomplish the goals, write the article…whatever it is, this is going to be a time of action. Less heads down, more turning heads.
That’s what I’m going to focus on, how about you?
The Sixty-Sixth Question
As some of you know, I’m currently in Poland on a journey to trace my family’s heritage. Much of the meaning for this trip comes from the fact that, at current, I’m the last of the bloodline on this side. This group of Jacobs/Jakubowicz, quite literally, lives or dies with me. When I visited the cemetery in my family’s hometown, it got me thinking about memory, and what will happen to us all when I’m gone.
Do you think about legacy? What does it mean to you?
Does the idea of legacy impact your daily choices?
What does the timespan of legacy look like to you? A generation, or forever?
What has shaped your perception of legacy?
Whose legacy do you carry?
This Week’s Jam: “Soul Sanctuary”
I’ve had a lot of time in the car on this trip, criss-crossing Poland, and have gone deeper into the discography of some of my favorite, and not so favorite (who knew Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! was such a masterpiece?!) artists.
Naturally, that includes Prince and a revisiting of the Emancipation album. From that, I’ve hit rewind on “Soul Sanctuary” a number of times.
A Note
As part of an ongoing project, I’m rethinking how this newsletter works this month. There’s a chance I may make my monthly essay free, and throw these weekly prompts behind a (nominal) paywall, or vice versa. Would you be open to paying a few dollars a month for this, maybe $4-5? Looking at it as $1/question. Either way, stay tuned as this develops.
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Until we meet again (which, inshallah, will be next Sunday).