Rachael Freed (legacy writing for men and women)
www.WomensLegacies.com  or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Legacies: the footprints we leave behind They prove that we were here: we lived, we mattered, we made a difference. Sometimes we leave tangible legacies like children, money, crafts, poetry, heirlooms, or gardens. But most legacies are the fruits of a life well lived. They’re found in every tree we’ve saved using recycled paper, every friend we’ve cheered on with our caring and laughter, every co-worker with whom we’ve shared expertise, and every stranger to whom we’ve shown kindness. But unless you document your unique legacy, your stories and values will one day be lost forever, buried in the dust of history. By putting your values into words, you not only preserve your legacy, but offer a special gift to loved ones: your spiritual-ethical will.

    A spiritual-ethical will is not a legal will, which documents how your estate should be distributed after you die. It is a record of who you are—a gift to the present and to the future, offered to loved ones while you’re still alive. Your spiritual-ethical will is an opportunity to articulate your values, impart your wisdom, bless your loved ones, and express how you hope to be memorialized after your death. One day your descendants will hold this document in their hands and know who you were, how you lived, and what you contributed to the world. This may be the most important writing you will ever do.

    Legacy writing differs from autobiography, memoir, life review, and genealogy not so much in content, but in intent. We write to preserve our personal, familial, and communal histories. We write to express who we are and what we value, to mark our place in the world, to be witnessed by others, to build community, to be remembered. We write to bless those who come after us with our love and wisdom. If our lives are to have lasting meaning, we must use them as a sacred link, consciously connecting past generations to future generations.    

     Empowering women of every age to reclaim their voices and articulate their values, gives them the opportunity to create their spiritual-ethical wills. In the past decade women representing all ages, races, ethnicities, faith traditions, education levels, and life situations have begun this important writing. They include seniors and new mothers, home-makers and professionals, grandmothers, single, married, committed, divorced, and widowed women. Immigrant women, abused women, incarcerated women, and women in all manner of personal transition, including retirement, loneliness, grief, illness, and death have found peace and acceptance of their lives through this writing. Few began believing they could write and many lacked confidence that they had anything significant to express.

    Yet legacy writing seems a natural undertaking for women today. We are the weavers, the storytellers, the vessels of memory: those who gather, build, and sustain our communities. Regard-less of our religious beliefs, legacy letters (spiritual-ethical wills) are a powerful tool for unleashing our voices, power, and purpose.  At this precarious moment in history, we realize that life is fragile, that we do not control the number of our days. Many of us feel a sense of urgency, a need to document our legacies to help shape this unfolding new world. We have an obligation to record our personal values and family stories. In so doing, we strengthen the fabric of civilization.