Daniel Mejía (he/him/his), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer
The question “How do you want to be remembered?” is a question that once in our lives we have been asked or have asked ourselves. Many would like to be remembered for their achievements or for being the best at something; for leaving a legacy so that millions of people remember who they were. Others, including myself, would prefer to be remembered from the heart, by anecdotes, by places, by a few people, but to be remembered by building a bond between us.
It is death, an unpredictable phenomenon like fate, and irrepressible like time. There comes a day when our time comes for all of us, our clock stops, its hands stop moving. It is at that precise moment when we take stock of our lives when we see our entire lives pass before our very eyes. The truth is that we are too afraid of being forgotten, we worry about leaving a mark on the world when what matters is living while we still can. In this way, new stories full of details are developed that, at some point and after our leave, could lead to memories of us in life. All those unforgettable moments of happiness, sadness, love, and dedication that had remained latent in our memory.
And also, think about what will become of all those memories. Will we still be remembered as we were? Will our memory remain in the minds of our loved ones? I want to think that it will. And that is, in my perception, the main difference between leaving a legacy and developing intimate memories with your loved ones. While a person with a great legacy can be remembered for their works and achievements in life, we can develop memories through things as simple as words made up with your partner, or a song that was heard on the radio while traveling with the family, or a specific place, like the one you visited with your siblings many years ago. The difference between leaving a legacy and being intimately remembered is the involvement of your senses in the process of remembering.
The smell and taste of some food made by that relative, the texture of your partner’s skin, the incredible colors that are formed in a sunset view with your friends, the sound imparted by a guitar like the one your grandfather played; all the senses are related to the process of remembering, to sensory memory. All this sensory information is stored in our body for a few seconds, although the original stimulus is no longer present. The brain is capable of deciding if said sensory information is or is not relevant to be stored. And this is the wonderful thing about leaving a memory in another person; you were relevant enough in a person’s life so that their brain allowed you to be part of their sensory memory.
The mere act of being remembered is the result of a very complex process and, to me, it would be very flattering knowing that I impacted someone’s life that much, that the times we spend together can activate the process of remembering. Particularly, I proposed to myself some kind of afterlife goal to be able to cause a big smile on someone’s face by remembering them, through little life details, a specific day in which we laugh, cry, sing; that we enjoy the coincidence of coinciding in life.
We tend to worry about leaving a legacy in this world, when in fact the most precious memories, the most intimate, and that generate sensory memories, are those that happen spontaneously, effortlessly, simply by living life surrounded by the people you love. By living we will be remembered.
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Mexican biotechnologist specialized in the reuse of natural compounds from agro-industrial waste. Passionate about science and the creation of inclusive spaces. From Mexico, he collaborates with Low Entropy as he seeks to migrate to Canada in the coming months.
