I was walking down the sidewalk when I considered my own death. Right now there is a lot in the news about illness and dying and who knows if I am totally immune to either. At some point, we are not immune, we have an illness or a death. Surprise!
Like this cheery start?
My first concern if I were suddenly not here is my animals. I want them to be taken care of. What would I leave behind? What would happen to the things? Then I remembered this ethical will concept I only recently learned about. Do you know about ethical wills?
It’s a practice that seems to have started thousands of years ago. And yet, I just learned about it, and most people I ask have never heard of it. Dr. Andrew Weil and his book, Healthy Aging, brought it to my attention.
So, what is it?
Writing an ethical will is a written document passing on your values and life lessons to others. The web has many examples and explanations. Here is one. It is not a legal document. It’s your personal offering.
It’s your written legacy.
It can include the author’s values, life lessons, loves, hopes, dreams, and forgiveness. Some refer to it as a love letter to your family, friends, or community. Make it personal, about what comes from you.
Today they are often written by people at turning points of their lives: facing challenging life situations or transitional life stages. Such events can wake people out of their regularly scheduled programming. The letter can be shared with family and community even while the writer is still alive.
The assignment of writing an ethical will demands that we stop and take a look at our lives. We take what comes up and write it down. We don’t have to wait until we are old or sick or at some transitional point. We can write the thing whenever we like, put it away, bring it out, make edits, changes. It’s a living process. It actually is a gift to the writer to do this for themselves and then later, a gift to readers.
Know yourself, let others know you. Take notes. Remember what is important. Tells those whom you love.