Levels of Legacy

By Lorenzo & Jared of The Great Order

Levels of Legacy.

What are you currently creating in life? Where have you come from? What would you love to leave behind?

I feel that we all, at one point or another, consider these questions for ourselves.

For me, the longer I’m here and the more I do, the more I consider my life’s purpose.

Once lost in a flurry of daily indulgences I never seriously considered where I came from. As I get older, and I would say perhaps arguably wiser, my historical past calls out to me for its understanding.

My ancestors, once mute, seem to whisper in my dreams about this thing called legacy. These days I’ve seen that I must continue to become more aware of my roots to grow a strong life.

Perhaps like me, you also had little to no respect for those closest to you as you grew up. For so long, I did my best to ignore my past. Drugs, alcohol, a ‘busy’ life, amongst many other indulgences, could be sited here, of how I ‘wasted’ much of my time alive.

Luckily for me, I began my Japanese adventure with my Japanese Wife, and thus I finally began to change for the better. She explained to me, often and in great detail, the importance of knowing who you are and of honouring where you came from.

With this wise advice now a part of who I am, and as my time here helps me get more grounded, I am attracting a deeper understanding of my past. ‘Know thyself’, as it said at the oracle of Delphi, this was a suggestion lost on me during my haze of younger days. Now though, in relation to what I wish to accomplish with the short time we all have here, I have understood, it is folly to not explore all of yourself, particularly if you need to accomplish your best.

As I’ve grown to understand for myself, I’ve concluded that there are no simply good or bad ancestors, only examples of actions that may or may not resonate with you to exemplify and possibly continue on with. Some may attract, others repel, but as with any aspect of life directed towards freedom, they must be figured out for yourself and by yourself. Your reasons will be your own, but I now know that without a deep understanding of where you came from it is hard to choose a solid path for where you’d like to go and grow. At least, that has been my experience.

My opinion would also be that, regardless of coming from one place or another, there is a kind of equality to be found in the huge scope of our shared and interlaced histories. Everyone has relatives of one kind or another. Remembered or not, their influence, or lack thereof, still affects us from our first breath, possibly until our last.

Understanding the odd phenomenon that we are in truth family, on a conscious level, can help grow personal awareness by leaps and bounds. What any of us do from there, well, is solely up to each of us. What’s good for some may be bad for others and, of course, the opposite is true. None can dictate or define this for you. If you allow too many outside influences to push you one way or another, then in my estimation, we become ungrounded in our story.

Heroes and Villains are all ‘painted’ over by the ideals and beliefs of the days in which they lived. And that can and does change in historical perspective and memory from one era to the next. In other words, I wouldn’t believe anybody’s definition for either, but would endeavor to determine for oneself what constitutes and villain, a hero. I say: Be Your Own Superhero! Seems like ‘sage’ advice to me, if I do say so myself. A big ask, but why not aim high?

At heart I’m a poet, who loves to dance with definitions and see where that takes me. For you it could be something very different. Do no harm. Be unselfishly loving. Those are the only real rules to life. We are here to explore, to love, to help one another, to paint our existence with all the ‘colours’ we can enjoy. And then, even if nothing ‘concrete’ is left behind, as you take your last breath, the movements of your life will still leave a wonderful and beautiful legacy.

Come along and enjoy this detailed discussion on the importance of ancestors and boundaries and above all, the desire to know oneself. Where we came from and where we are going. For me, I have dropped any outside ‘experts’, finally realizing I am the only expert I require in relation to my life, although I’m now wise enough to bend an ear and a good listen to the example and stories of my forebears. They all sacrificed everything that we might continue the story, and that certainly deserves our respect and gratitude.

Today I had the honour of delving deeper into these topics with Jared George of The Great Order.