Leaving a Legacy

This year, Solid Ground -- which administers RSVP as well as other programs serving community needs -- celebrates 50 years of service to King County 

Congratulations to Solid Ground on 50 years of service to King County! What a tremendous legacy of 28,045 hours of service by 6,425 RSVP volunteers to 150 partner organizations ranging from blood banks to schools to food banks to SeaTac Airport, to name just a few of the volunteer opportunities RSVP offers. 

Volunteers’ services have been worth millions of dollars to the broader community, dollars saved by your willingness to donate your time and skills. This is truly inspiring and well worth celebrating. 

Each of you who has volunteered through those programs has another kind of legacy to leave your loved ones. The invitation to consider such legacies is something we usually take up in our later lives. Some forms of legacies can seem a bit daunting to tackle, but others are less challenging. Rachel Freed, who has written a great deal about legacies said, “Some legacies we’ve received feel like gifts, others like karmic burdens.” The following ideas may provide a structure for you to use in leaving the richness of your legacy. 

STORIES: Our stories help encapsulate for our children, grandchildren, and community special moments in our lives: our accomplishments, what challenges we’ve overcome, who we’ve loved and who has loved us, where we’ve traveled to, what we’ve valued, and more. It’s good to write out stories from our childhoods, teen years, and various stages of adulthood, so they can see the scope of our lives and gain a sense of what experiences contributed to shaping the person we’ve become. 

These stories don’t have to be long. They could be written over time and put into a collection to share with other generations. They can also be recorded in audio or video form. 

SKILLS: Many of you may already do this, but teaching your grandchildren and others how to perform skills you’ve enjoyed – such as building things, creating art, cooking with favorite recipes, knitting, sewing, crocheting, making music as a family – is a powerful gift. Passing down treasured recipes from previous generations is a wonderful legacy to leave. I’m thrilled to have recipes written in my mother’s hand. 

ETHICAL WILL: The idea of leaving a spiritual legacy of one’s stories that focuses on values has been a part of the Jewish tradition for centuries. Rabbi Steve Leder says, “We cannot learn from a story no one has ever told us.” In his book, For You When I’m Gone: Twelve Essential Questions About Love and Life, Rabbi Leder guides readers through a series of questions that help the reader consider key events in their lives that reveal their basic values in the way or ways they’ve responded to life’s challenges and invitations. 

These questions can be answered through writing stories or letters to loved ones. He believes that “people die, but love and legacy do not.” You can find many resources for writing ethical wills.

BLESSINGS: Some of you may want to leave specific blessings for those you love based on their interests and strengths. These can be enclosed in a card to be given to individuals at the end of your life. You may also want to leave general blessings applicable to anyone such as: 

• May you be blessed with joy and peace throughout your life. 
• May you be blessed with the strength of spirit to survive any challenges you meet. 
• May your love of travel lead to discoveries of the vastness and diversity in this world. 
• May your ability to care for others lead to even deeper compassion for all, including yourself.

EMBODIMENT: Perhaps our richest legacies are of who we are and what we represent to the world. As we age, are we still growing or have we remained stuck in old patterns of behavior? Are we bitter or joyful? Are we expressing the best of who we are in our daily lives and actions? 

Sage-ing International has identified 10 qualities of a Sage in Service. They are: compassion, deep listening, joyfulness, inclusiveness, respect, lifelong learning, open communication, peacefulness, integrity, and reverence for life. 

Imagine what our world would be like if we all embodied these qualities. We would transform this world. 

Carol Scott-Kassner is a Certified Spiritual Director and a Certified Sage-ing Leader. She is having a wonderful journey as she ages and wishes the same for you. For more information, visit sage-ing.org

THIS ARTICLE IS REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM "Experience in Action" - KING COUNTY RSVP'S NEWS FOR PEOPLE 55 & Older. To read the full newsletter, visit the following link: Experience in Action