Articles By Elaine Gast Fawcett
Before you can think about what legacy you want to leave, remember the legacies of those that came before you. There's no better way to find out who you really are.
In many cultures, particularly indigenous ones, connecting with and honoring ancestors is a way of life. Think of the Navajo, who, before making any decision that affects their family or community, consult with the seven generations that came before them. Or consider Mexico’s Day of the Dead, when families welcome ancestors back into their homes and visit their loved ones’ graves. In both cases, although ancestors are no longer in their bodies, their spirit is thought to be very much alive and awake.
In our American culture, we don't tend to think of ancestors in the same way. During our lifetime, many of us uproot ourselves from our hometowns and families, moving across the nation or the world in search of careers or love or ourselves. Outside of perhaps our immediate family, we barely keep in touch with our living relatives, much less those who have passed on. Psychologists, sociologists, religious leaders, and elders all agree that this isolation and displacement from our roots is to blame for many personal and cultural ills.
It doesn't have to be like this. Now more than ever, it's incredibly easy — and personally satisfying — to learn who you ancestors were, where they lived and what mattered to them. Most of this information can be found within a few clicks of the Internet.
Say you're like me, though, and don’t have dozens of hours to devote to genealogy sites, hunting down random names, dates and Census reports. If you're not keen on joining Ancestry.com or any of the other countless sites out there, here are simple ways you can connect with the lives and stories of your ancestors:
If you’re like most people, you probably think of a Will in terms of the document that specifies where your money and your material goods will go at the end of your life. How do you pass on the things you can’t see, though? Your values and beliefs, for example, or what you envision for your philanthropy?
An ethical will is a personal, reflective document that you write to yourself, for yourself. It’s a process to help you identify the values that guide your personal and professional life, and how closely your actions match your beliefs.
It’s not hard to write an ethical will, but it does take some time and thought. It helps to write the answers with pen and paper to start. Allow yourself to write freely, and avoid the temptation to edit as you go. Remember: you can always proof and polish it later, or record it as an audio or video file. Writing it out first with your hand is a way of embodying your message.
Begin by asking yourself these questions.
Writing the Change You Want to See in the World
For more than ten years, Elaine Gast Fawcett has served as a writer and communications consultant through her firm Four Winds Writing, helping philanthropists, entrepreneurs, charitable organizations and socially conscious companies tell their story, market their mission and win more sales and support.
A published author of seven books, Elaine has educated philanthropists nationwide on governance, management and strategy. She has provided pivotal needs assessments, analysis and evaluation on statewide grantmaking initiatives, and helped foundations manage the grant process from start to finish. Elaine has interviewed countless foundation and family members, researched and written a number organization and family histories, and helped people share their message — and their legacy — for generations to come.
Elaine holds a Masters in Professional Writing from Towson University in Baltimore, and a Certificate in Nonfiction from Charles University in Prague. In 2005, she served as a travel writer for Fodor’s Travel Publications. She has published articles in a number of national magazines and local newspapers, and is a member of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers.
As a volunteer, Elaine serves as project director for Voices of the Earth, an online media interview series featuring elders and community leaders who engage in earth-honoring ways. She engages regularly with local community groups, as well as abroad. In 2009, she traveled to Tibet to participate in a service project with Chushul Home orphanage in Llasa.
Elaine lives in the San Francisco Bay area and offers her services nationwide. When away from her laptop, Elaine enjoys her time as a local yoga instructor and a certified natural foods chef. Along with her husband Ted and Shiba Inu Rogue, she enjoys traveling, hiking, biking, and adventures of every kind.
Follow Elaine online via her blog at www.PhilanthropyWriting.com or on Twitter: 4WindsWriting.
The name of this website was inspired by a quotation from author Tim Kimmel: "You've been given a piece of history in advance — a gracious gift you send to a time you will not see."
When we think of legacy, it may be that we think of our estate, our financial arrangements, etc. But the "piece of history," the "gracious gift" we are encouraging you to consider is not a monetary legacy, but a legacy of values: those priceless intangibles — all that we have learned, all that we have overcome, all that matters most to us .... and to those who follow in our footsteps.
Will you follow the path of ancient wisdom?
Hear this, you elders;
listen, all who live in the land.
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your forefathers?
Tell it to your children,
and let your children tell it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
The journey ahead of you is a long one. But the reward which awaits you and which awaits your future generations is the planting of a heritage with lasting significance.
There is no doubt that you will send a legacy to future generations. The question that must be answered is, "What legacy will you send?"
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