Where do our stories go when we die?

Death is a depressing subject that we tend to not think about. But every once in a while it creeps into our thoughts, usually when a loved one is dying or recently passed. I had a friend from college pass away recently and the touching eulogy got me thinking – where do all our stories go when we die?

Maybe the question should be…where do we want them to go?

Nowhere

Maybe you only want your stories to be retold by those who experienced them with you. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re doing it because you think that you don’t have anything different to say or contribute, you’re wrong. No one else will have the same thoughts, feelings, or perspective on an event that happened. You are unique and your story deserves to be told.

Everywhere

If you want the world to know your stories, then you might share them on social media or on a blog. The posts will carry on in cyberspace and will forever be retrieved by the search engines of the future. Or will they? The internet is a fairly new invention and while we know that our public posts are retrievable by the current population, who knows how long it will stay that way.

Other folks who really love to write might craft a memoir or an autobiography for publication and wide distribution. Stories will live on in book form for as long as the purchasers hold onto them.

Somewhere

To share our stories with only a small group of close friends and family, you might decide to keep a journal. There are limited copies and your adventures were most likely experienced with others within the short list of confidants. They get to read your perspective, which is rarely—if ever—the same as theirs.

The downside to a handwritten journal is that there is only one copy. If a mother wants to pass along the stories to her children, she’ll have to type them up or photocopy her journal. JRNL allows you to focus on the storytelling. Type once, add photos, and then print as many copies of a book as you want. The books are archival-quality, too, so you know they will last for a very long time. (Maybe as long as those social media posts!)

Where do you think our stories go when we die? Is there another way to share our lives with future generations? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section.