5 Myths About Legacy Storytelling that Could Change Your Life
You have a legacy.
That’s probably not the first thought you have every morning when your feet hit the floor and you’re stumbling to the bathroom, but you do!
No matter your age, experience, income level, or beliefs, you are building a legacy.
Ready to change your life? Let’s debunk some myths you might be believing about legacy storytelling.
Myth 1: You have to have children to have a legacy.
Legacy is about impacting future generations, and while children seem to be a fairly straightforward way to do that, they’re certainly not the only way!
Think about your friends, your neighbors, your community. These people will benefit from your life, work, and heart, and are part of your legacy. Using your gifts to train others who are coming after you - that’s your legacy. Children not required. :)
Having a big family or doing really impressive things is not what produces a beautiful legacy. You could build an empire, have a dozen kids, or cure cancer, but it’s how you’ve impacted the people you’ve been closest with while doing those things that creates your legacy.
Myth 2: Your story has to be “finished” before you can tell it
It was revolutionary to me when I realized that legacies don’t magically appear out of thin air when we die, they’re something we build over the course of our lives.
Last year, I told a legacy story for a midwife here in Knoxville who isn’t even 40! Is her story done? Absolutely not! Have her most significant life accomplishments happened yet? Highly doubtful!
So why tell her story?
When we tell legacy stories in the middle of life, it centers us and gives us a vision and clarity for the future we often miss in the daily grind of life. It also allows us to process and understand where we are now, so we can make adjustments that will bring us back to our center and take our next brave steps well.
We showed the film about her story for her family and friends - including her parents, siblings, husband, and daughter.
Try telling me that a daughter watching her mother’s story while she is in the middle of her life, full of passion and energy, won’t have an impact today and in the future!
Wouldn’t you cherish a film like that of someone you love?
Myth 3: Legacy stories are only for those who have lots of financial success.
My grandmother, who impacted my life tremendously, was never extremely wealthy, but what she did have, she gave away. Her legacy was one of love, compassion, and generosity!
Legacy stories are powerful even if financial success is not part of the story. Legacy stories are not meant to be a guidebook on how to make a lot of money, but rather an opportunity to honor someone’s life journey.
Think about someone you look up to. Financial success may or may not be a part of the story. But what is part of the story? What is it about that person that you admire and want to honor and celebrate? What do people see in you that they want to honor and celebrate?
If you’ve not thought about a legacy story in this way before, that’s ok! A legacy video is based on the idea that meaningful videos can still be produced and enjoyed again and again (rather than scrolled through on tic-tok and quickly forgotten), and that when families create videos that tell the stories of loved ones with honor, truth and love, they’re building their Legacy.
Myth 4: My story is no good/not interesting
Whenever I hear someone make this argument, there are two conclusions:
The person has a very complicated story
The person has a seemingly “common” life and therefore no story
What I love about BOTH of these types of people is that they BOTH usually have amazing stories!
To the person with a complicated story - telling a good story is not about retelling every detail of your life, but instead about finding a common theme that carries through a few significant events in your life. When you give yourself a framework like that, it’s amazing how you’ll start to feel excited about telling your story!
To the person with a seemingly “common” life - if your story feels basic or boring, I would encourage you to dig a little deeper, to find out what your desires and motivations are that have shaped your decisions.
What things do you love and get excited about? Who believed in you and encouraged you in your journey? Who is your hero, and what kind of legacy would you want to leave? I believe that after working through these questions your story will come to life!
Myth 5: No one cares about my story/it won’t help anyone
Why does it feel like pulling teeth for people to understand the power of telling their story? Let’s make this personal - do you understand the power of telling YOUR story?
I believe this myth exists because it’s hard to see the value in telling your story until you’ve told it!
Here’s a secret: if your motivation to tell your story is to help someone else, and you tell it with honor, truth, and love, that will come through in the video, and they will care about and appreciate your story!
Alternatively, you could create a video that tells your story in a way that is inauthentic, preachy or pompous, and completely lose the audience. But I know you won’t do that!
Can I tell you a story? Whenever I filmed interviews with my grandmother for her legacy video, she was always so happy and thankful, but it was NEVER something she would have asked someone to do for her. My own family was only mildly happy that I was filming interviews, but it wasn’t until we all watched the film together that we really felt the power of her story for our family. Now that she has passed, it’s something that we all cherish so much, and are so thankful that we can watch this and remember her.
Want your story to help someone? Then you must tell it with honor, truth, and love. Do that and your story is a reflection of the true impact that it will have on others.
Telling your story with honor, truth, and love will be valued deeply, especially by the ones who know it to be true, but also to those who are walking a similar path.
Conclusion
Your legacy can be built with many different things - relationships you’ve poured into like friendships, marriage, and children, your faith as it directs how you live your life, tangible things you’ve invested in, built, or accomplished, or impact you’ve made in a community by policy change, fundraising, or increased awareness about certain issues that matter to you.
If you’re not sure what your legacy is right now, take some time with a pen and paper. Here are some prompts:
Who in your life has influenced you the most? How have you modeled your life after them?
Who in your life looks up to you personally? What are you pouring into them by way of encouragement, advice, and presence?
What special skills or experience do you have? Who are you training up in those things?
What are your beliefs about yourself, God, and the world?
When I think about my own legacy, I think about what’s at the core of my being. What leads me, gives me a direction and a purpose, and centers me when I’m feeling off - and that is my faith in Jesus. I remember how He sacrificed himself for me, and loved me before I knew or loved him, and made me perfect in God’s sight so that I have nothing to prove. I want my legacy to be centered on resting in that love, and sharing that love with my family, my community and the world. That was the legacy my grandmother left to me, and the legacy I want to pass along to my children. If you’ve not heard about this kind of love from Jesus, it’s called the Good News, and it’s in the New Testament of the Bible. :)
Every day we are making choices that impact ourselves and others, and shape the world that we’ll some day (a long long long long time from now) leave behind.
When you decide to encourage a colleague, show up to an artist’s gallery exhibition, or bravely have a hard conversation with someone, that’s building your legacy.
