The sad passing of Sam Neill got me thinking about death, legacies and what we leave behind…
In death, our loss isn’t always measured purely by the deeds we carried out during our lifetime. When the final curtain call comes, your worth can often be measured by the absence you leave behind – by the you-shaped hole you leave in the universe.
For some individuals, that gap will only be noticed by their nearest and dearest. The clocks will continue to tick, the world will continue to turn and life will continue to trudge onwards.
For some – the lucky few – that absence in the world will create a schism in space and time. For a few brief seconds, the populous will cry out ‘Oh no, not them! That’s so sad. They were a good person’, in the vain hope that this intrinsic goodness could somehow have protected them from the chill hands of Death.
But when your star has shone brightly, we mourn this person collectively, because they meant something to us. Somehow, the thread of their existence was looped into our own, tying them to the handmade quilt of our life in some important and meaningful way.
It could be that they were your favourite actor, your treasuresd singer of songs, or the writer of books that had transported you to innumerable imagined universes. Perhaps they were a politician you admired, a teacher who gave you your first confidence in yourself or a sportsperson whose courage and commitment helped drive you onward.
But at the moment that the news of their passing is announced, we’ll all feel that same sadness, pain and – most tellingly – regret. That person is gone. Their wit, intelligence, warm smile, immense skill or plucky grit is no longer here. And their absence is suddenly, shockingly felt
We loved what they did, what they stood for, how they treated people or how they stood up for what they believed.
And now that unique conglomeration of attributes has disappeared like morning mist, off into the ether, never to be seen again.
But what better epitaph could there be? That the world hears of your death and collectively thinks, ‘Damn it, why them!? I loved them’. To reach that many hearts and minds is an achievement few of us will achieve. And, in some small way, their loss keeps them immortal in our collective minds well into the unpredictable future.
A life well lived and a legacy well made. We can hope for nothing more.
CommsBreakdown 