To piggy-back off of my latest podcast (#15 – Expressing Gratitude) and yesterday’s blog on death:

An incredibly eye-opening and inspiring exercise is writing your own eulogy. If you were to die today, how would you want to be remembered? What kind of person do your friends, family, and the world see you as? What impact or mark would you like to have left on the planet? Whatever that answer is, you should be working night and day to get as close to that result as you can.

Here’s mine:

”Whilst Dillan had many flaws—douchiness, selfishness at times, stubbornness—he was a good person. He dedicated his life to aiding and inspiring people to be the best versions of themselves, though he was not always successful. By taking care of his mind and body, he inspired others to do the same. He showed others that it was possible to set goals, take steps to accomplish those goals, and fulfill them. He made people laugh. He made people think. He asked for many favors, but was always willing to help someone in need. He was firm, but he was loving. He was open, but he was secure. He was confident, but was aware of his flaws. He tried new things, but worshiped routine and discipline…

Because of his existence, the world is a better place than it was before.”

This can be quite personal, but if you’re willing to share, I’d love to hear your eulogy.

BestSelf is a neat little company which sells decks of cards to get you moving and creating. There’s a deck full of activities to do to get you out of your comfort zone (e.g. bake cookies for your neighbor, throw out something in your room each day for 7 days, create a 60 second short film of you doing something, etc.) which I think is awesome. But they also have a Wordsmith deck, which is designed to get you writing when you feel blockage.

Not that I experience much blockage when it comes to writing in this blog, but I thought it would be a cute change of pace to include the occasional prompt in order to a) put this deck I purchased to good use, and b) take a break from the self-help lecturing I’ve grown so accustomed to, and get personal.

Wordsmith prompt #1: Write about the place you call home.

I despise the saying, “home is where the heart is,” but I must say home has never been a physical location for me. It has typically been wherever the most organized collection of my loved ones is.

Growing up as an only child for most of my childhood, making friends became a necessity. Not only have I always cherished the process of developing a friendship, but once solidified, I consider that person a brother or a sister. Hence, growing up, home to me was where all my brothers and sisters mostly were. This is what leads to a foggy life I think: when someone stays in the same area but all their friends move away. Is that place still home?

My mother though will forever be the centerpiece. She could move to Siberia and somewhere in my mind I’ll think, “damn, I kind of live in Siberia.” Anything good about me is because of my mother’s teachings or love, so it only makes sense that wherever she goes, a piece of me goes with her.

On a final, unrelated note: It’s insane to me how the majority of my dreams of me at home are my childhood home. There must be something cemented into our youthful, developing minds…something ingrained in our long-term memories. I never think about that house (which I spent my elementary school years), yet when I have dreams about home, I see each room clear as day.

Tell me about the place you call home.

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