What we leave behind shows how we spent our time

Lifetime legacies in words and deeds

Focus, plus passion, plus decades of work.

Add obstinacy, persistence, and faith.

That’s what it takes to create a body of artwork.

Or a nature reserve.

Or a research breakthrough.

Or a productive garden.

Or a writing legacy.

I enjoyed each of these achievements in the past week and felt in awe.

And in respect of creators and contributors who refuse to give up. Despite the thunderstorms and lightning strikes that hammer their lives.

Given time, it happens

And I realised that time both creates the challenge and delivers the long-term reward.

Think about how much time it takes to build something worthwhile. And how the passage of time then amplifies this initial creative output.

The time it took the famous Australian artist, Hans Heysen, to build a stone studio. To import from Europe the glass windows to mute the southern light.

And the time taken to drive the 270 miles each way (eleven times) to the Flinders Ranges. With a custom-built plywood caravan (seen above) drawn by his A-model Ford Roadster.

Why? So that he could capture the unique light of dawn there. And this was in the 1920s.

Plus the time he gave to portray landscapes using eight different media. Now globally admired more than a hundred years on.

And think about the time and patience local conservationists give. To lobby governments to restore wetlands. And to welcome back native waterbirds, frogs, and fish. Plus, the time it takes for these natural wildlife cycles to reset in a new home.

And the time scientists apply to writing endless grants to support their research work. To make incremental gains and surprise themselves with sudden “aha”s. That finally result in new treatments and thousands of suffering children breathe freely.

And consider the time a gardener takes to plant and grow a walnut or apricot tree that feeds generations.

And how much time do writers take? To record insights, to sift ideas, and to muster courage to publish. To write posts, articles, and books to light fires in readers.

Over time, it deepens

But what’s left after this dedicated investment in time is a legacy. One of beauty, nourishment, balance in nature, health, or inspiration.

When you spend your time now creating something of quality for those who come after, you live on.

Hans Heysen knew that. He preserved sketches behind glass. His family protected his estate and studio for a hundred years.

The conservationist knew that too. He made sure that a future government couldn’t sell the river land to a higher bidder.

And as fellow writers of words worth sharing, we take time to write our best work and not hold on to it. We publish.

We set free our ideas. We don’t let them ruminate too long inside our heads.

And we write where the words will last. That means in a book or on a site we “own” or at least one that cannot delete us on a whim.

It’s worth the considerable time and effort we put in now.

Because creativity is its own reward.

And because we become part of the magic of time-travel. Where our legacy might touch, teach, or transform someone aching for our words long after our own time is up.