I'm afraid of spiders, deep water, and oblivion.

Sound familiar? That's because Gus Waters, the male lead in the novel The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, has the same fear.

“I fear oblivion,” he said without a moment’s pause. “I fear it like the proverbial blind man who’s afraid of the dark.”

I, like Gus, am afraid of dying and leaving nothing behind to be remembered by. I'm afraid of not accomplishing anything worth leaving as my legacy. I don't know if this is just a minor existential crisis, or if I'll feel like this until I've accomplished all of my goals, but I decided to do a little digging.

I asked my friends on Facebook what they would most like to be remembered for. Here are some of the answers that I got.

I want to be remembered specifically for my work. I want to be proud of the things I've written and created. I think I'd be the happiest person in the world if I knew I had inspired even one person to do something good.

I think it's important we think about this every once in a while so that we can remind ourselves that even though we may be young now, there's still a bigger picture. No matter what it is that we want to leave behind as our legacy. Everyone wants something unique out of life, and everyone wants to make a difference in their own way.

Until then, I'm trying not to be afraid of 'oblivion' the way that Gus was. Remind yourself that although you may think you haven't accomplished enough, you've left a bigger impact than you know.

So you didn't solve world hunger? That's okay. You were an amazing friend.
So you never won an Oscar? That's okay. Your kids will love you anyway.




Chelsea Totten
Talk Pretty To Me