This is long, so if you don't have time or have a short attention span, close this now.

Otherwise, enjoy the read. I wrote this in my blog this morning, and thought that I would share it on TA. I am interested to see the response to what I wrote.

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As I lay in bed this morning, I reflected upon the whole concept of an online blog and journal. I have one other that I use which is a little more private than this one, and those are thoughts and feelings I wouldn't want to go unnoticed if I were to pass.

Physical journals and diarys are easy in the sense that if something were to happen to me, they would quickly and easily be discovered. But my online journals and blogs on the other hand - not so much. As much as I'd prefer them to stay undiscovered while I am still around, I certainly hope they don't get left in internet limbo later on.

So I thought, 'to fix this problem, would I print out every journal I'd ever written, and add it to the other physical pieces I have?' Or do I write something in one of the physical pieces and hope that someone would find that information soon enough to discover the online ones before it was too late? I am leaning towards the latter more so than the former.

As odd as this may seem to the older generations of today, (perhaps even to some of the younger ones,) the internet has become such a strong attribution to the daily lives of millions of people, it is inconcievable for some to go back to a life in which the online world no longer exists. That isn't really my point. My point is that because of this, people have molded their lives in such a way that their online activities are just as valuable as the ones away from the computer.

When a person passes on, it will be equally as important to look through all of their computer files as it is to look through and sort out their physical posessions. Not only to find blogs and saved journals, but for important dates that may have been recorded, such as meetings with colleagues or friends, or perhaps for some vital financial information. Pictures, saved messenger conversations, even just to see the bookmarks of visited sites that could reveal passions and interests that were not publicly communicated.

A personal computer can hold a plethora of detail that may go unnoticed. Will families spend the time to sit at a computer and search through everything while they are grieving? I think not. I would imagine that a lot of the time, the computer will be disposed of without much thought. And that is truly a shame. A world undiscovered (by the people who care most,) quite possibly withholding some of the greatest information they could find. Ahh but that could easily go the other way too.

So let's just say that the internet persona an individual has developed is not such a nice one. They have been using it as a tool to cheat on their wife, or they have a creepy obsession with beastiality. These things are probably best left unknown. We don't want it to be such that when a person dies, we realize that they were the biggest scum known to man kind. Certain things are hidden, and are meant to be kept hidden in order to avoid certain emotional pain to others. So how do we avoid this? I mean, it wouldn't be as if the griever is seeking out to find something terrible (hopefully,) so you certainly cannot fault them.

My solution is to keep your personal computer and everything in it reasonable enough such that you wouldn't be ostracized by your family and friends if they were to know. These days, nothing is yours and yours alone forever; unless you're a mastermind at hiding things. Otherwise, whether it be while you are still around or not, these things will be found out.

As morbid as this may seem, I am always preparing things in a manner that if I were to pass, I wouldn't be ashamed of what were to be found. I am not being dishonest by doing this, mainly because I don't have afflictions that my family would be floored by, but because the way I choose to present it is undoubtedly part of my character and who I am. So either way, whatever is to be discovered was a part of me regardless, even if some parts are missing.

Anyway, enough of my babbling. I need to get ready for work (as my alarm clock goes off.) And as a disclaimer, I am not planning to die anytime soon, so don't get any asinine ideas. Bye for now!

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It seems like your journey through life has become somewhat of a preparation for death and that normally doesnt occur in people as young as yourself. I have seen this type of behavior before but mostly with older people about in theyre 50's which are expecting it to happen at any given moment. I think you may be starting this preparation way to early and you should enjoy your life to the fullest and not have to worry about covering your tracks everytime you do something that may be a bit naughty or private to you. Personally after a person passes I wouldnt care about what they found on theyre computer or in any of theyre belongings. I would care about who that person was to me.

Not sure of what your religious beleifs are and I dont want to intrude into that part of your life either but once you pass on that is it. I hardly think anyone would be worried about the things you have done rather how much they miss you. Its hard for me to understand why you would be so concerned with what people think of you after you die. Are you afraid of what people think of you now?

The only things that I would be concerened about after I die is whether I left my child with enough knowledge to continue through life successfully and become a good person, that I have left all my belongings to people who truly need them, and that hope that everyone I had any type of relationship with knows how I truly felt about them.

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Well I think you bring up the interesting issue of "legacy" in the sense that it seems that by building up this body of text about your life and your thoughts you want to pass that on.

That having a tombstone with the date of your birth and death is really about the worst kind of memorial you can have. What does that tell you about the person? Did they like chocolate ice cream? What did they think of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness? etc.

Or to put it another way, what you really want to do is leave enough of yourself behind that people can get an actual sense of who you were.

I think a blog is a great place to start

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your pearl casting hero

I think both of you are really missing what I was trying to say.

ZzzZ - As much as it may seem that I have an obsession with my own mortality, that is furthest from the truth.

In the last few years of my life, I have lost a lot of people that I loved. Actually, almost an exact year ago a good friend of mine passed away, and in three days it will be 3 years since my grandfather had passed.

Anyway, because of this I have realized that any person can go at any time, and I am not nieve to think I am indestructible. The saying "live each day like it were your last" is something I roughly go by, in the sense that I try to keep good ties with the people I interact with, and that anything that has great importance gets taken care of right away.

Personally, I think this is a good way to lead your life. I am not too worried with the way people think of me now, or later. I know I am a good person, and there really isn't anything anywhere that can disprove that. I feel confident about that. My point is that my life (along with many many others,) extends beyond what you see with the naked eye.

This isn't supposed to be an analyzation of my life and how I feel about who I am or whatever. Sheesh, people look far too into things.

I am trying to say that the electronic world has become a very large factor in the functioning of society, and that the people we are extends into this. I was merely using myself as an example.

*closes the window*

um, I won't lie... I skimmed.

Something about a personal computer and, and, and fluffles?

I totally understand what you mean.

In the past everything that was interconnected to our lives used to be in physical hands reach.
Friends and family close and not far.
There's also the whole change of how we act out our relationships through various electronic means.

This is truly a new thing, and us in our mid twenties are nowhere near as connected as future generations will be.


Through all this we also need to consider what's of real value or not, because the disconnect will be much wider then ever before and we shouldn't be living purely through material things.


I don't know. Not making much sense myself ... bit tired.

quote:

Originally posted by jdat I don't know. Not making much sense myself ... bit tired.

Yeah, after all it is getting late, what being 4:30 in the afternoon and all.

so who like peanut butter?

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Scott has been introduced to the rave scene, and Ecstasy, by Craig. The two of them go out on the weekends, with some of Craigs friends, and stay up all night, dancing in a drug-fueled trance.

Last edited by Moral Hazard on Apr-26-2011 at 07:48

Nice reading

I can relate to some of that actually, although I don't think we'd be meaning (or talking about) the same things. Still interesting, nonetheless.

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quote:

Originally posted by Theresa I think both of you are really missing what I was trying to say. ZzzZ - As much as it may seem that I have an obsession with my own mortality, that is furthest from the truth. In the last few years of my life, I have lost a lot of people that I loved. Actually, almost an exact year ago a good friend of mine passed away, and in three days it will be 3 years since my grandfather had passed. Anyway, because of this I have realized that any person can go at any time, and I am not nieve to think I am indestructible. The saying "live each day like it were your last" is something I roughly go by, in the sense that I try to keep good ties with the people I interact with, and that anything that has great importance gets taken care of right away. Personally, I think this is a good way to lead your life. I am not too worried with the way people think of me now, or later. I know I am a good person, and there really isn't anything anywhere that can disprove that. I feel confident about that. My point is that my life (along with many many others,) extends beyond what you see with the naked eye. This isn't supposed to be an analyzation of my life and how I feel about who I am or whatever. Sheesh, people look far too into things. I am trying to say that the electronic world has become a very large factor in the functioning of society, and that the people we are extends into this. I was merely using myself as an example.

It was kind of hard to figure out what the main purpose was in your posts because you mentioned many different things such as death, blogs, comps, private activities etc. so I wasnt sure what you wanted us to reply to. I just replied with that I felt was addressing overall.

Live each day like you last isnt a bad thing to live by. But dont live your life each day thinking its the last day you will live. I have no clue if that makes any sense but I mean do the things you want to do and say what you want to say because you never know if you wont have a chance to do it over again but dont walk around stressing the fact that you are going to die someday.

If you want to start a blog to share who you really are with the world then by all means go ahead and utilize the technology we have to your advantage.

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quote:

Originally posted by UWM Yeah, after all it is getting late, what being 4:30 in the afternoon and all.

add to that I've only been awake about 3 hours or so ....


I say death to blogs