In one of his final interviews, Frank Zappa was asked how would he want to be remembered? His response was “It’s not important”.

A cursory search can reveal hundreds of thousands of ways that Frank Zappa is remembered by the world that knew his work. He did have a point that was not caught in the subtle air of that conversation. Existence is your legacy. Existence is the root of any legacy. Some people want to be remembered and they might spend a ton of money ensuring that their memory remains for infinity.

A recent project I completed was to go through all of my late brother’s flash drives to see if there might be any documents of importance that need to be saved or addressed. The majority of the content dated back to his earliest career where he worked on documents for respective courses or his work assignments. He long said he wanted to be remembered for his dedication to his profession. The documentary evidence showed me he was more dedicated than any of us may have realized. He spent countless evening and weekend hours perfecting his work.

He was someone beyond his professional existence. He was much more.

We all are much more. If we want to be defined by our professional work, that is fine. I’m suggesting that existence can be our legacy. Others can define it, then refine how they define it. Concern yourself with existence.

Because here and now is still the best place to be.

@WriterDann