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Reflection - Leaving Your Mark
I recently had one of those "am I going down the path I should be going down?" moments. I thought about my life history, my job history and history in general, and wondered what impact I could have on it.
I take pride in what I do, love my job, and feel successful. But what mark am I making on the world? I don't start up and run charities (though I donate to several), I don't always vote, and I am starting to worry that I will only be remembered by those who know me, and when they pass, what is there to remind the world that I existed?
Writing is a way to leave something behind. Writing is a way to put your thoughts, hopes, dream, history, and future on paper (or in this case, out in cyberspace). My question to myself is, do I need to be published to have felt success in my writing? Or is it enough that I have written, that my family and future generations can feel that they know me because they have read my words?
I posed the question to my father, who is not a writer, but an engineer. His writing is in numbers, in math, and in science. His mark on this world is that he has created computer systems that all of us use in everyday life.
My sister posed a question to him after taking a computer science & history course in college: "Why is it that if you invented this thing that our lives depend on so much every day are you not mentioned in any of my books?" My dad's response was that what he created has been improved upon so much, that the first one that came out isn't important. What is important is that it broke ground for what was to come.
So what is to come for all of us? If we have a script that is rewritten, is it more important to get our names in the credits or to get our ideas on the screen? Will we be forgotten, but the films or novels we write live on despite us? Will we make our mark in this world?
Everyone reading this probably is working, writing, and communicating with friends because of what my dad started. They may not know his name, but he lives on.
As long as I write, whether I'm published or not, I'm leaving my mark, and if even one person reads my words, I will have left an impression.
Comments
Dana Hahn wrote:
I recently had one of those "am I going down the path I should be going down?" moments.
"If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads." - Anatole France
:-)
I think you're right. But it seems everyone wants that 15 minutes of fame. When I wrote my first script I wanted more than anything to sell it. But It also felt good to finish it and have it for anyone to read. Even if it never makes it anywhere but to readings with friends, family and anyone else. After that when I wrote other scripts it felt better just to write for myself and not have any pressure of just thinking about if this will get sold. Maybe someday some of them will. And maybe nothing will, but I still wrote.
My short stories are the same way. Family and friends read them and when they tell me they liked it or didn't like it. It's okay. I still did what I love and enjoy. Write.
How do you do it? I seem to be in the same situation where my father and mother say that I could to something with history and/or science. I tell them that I am better at writing and kind of stuck in a situation where they keep telling me to get a job. I am trying to sell my screenplays out there and continue writing as a job. Help me.....
Hi Dana,
I enjoyed reading Reflection - Leaving Your Mark. It poses the same philosophical question as: If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise? Or, if God can do anything, can he make a rock he can't lift? It stumped me in college, but now I know that, yes, abolutely, you can, it does and he can.
As someone who struggled for many years in LA to make it as a writer, eating more PB&Js than I ever want to eat again, I am here to tell you that the pesky credit is what pays the bills.
I wish you much luck with your writing. Your energy is awesome!
Susan