Will

Erin McKeown recently wrote a newsletter about her will called “to die for.” Isn’t that a clever title? I thought it was a clever title.

Anyway, she writes about drafting her last wishes with her lawyer. Some of them are logistics about the funeral (cremated or not?) and understanding why she is making these decisions rather than leaving them for someone else to make at a later date: “of course, the overarching question of all this: who is this for? it’s not for me, that’s for sure. i will be dead.”

But then the conversation turns to what happens to her things. And that is the part that ties into the title. She writes,

not having a spouse or children and not owning a home in some ways made all the decisions simpler. but also… again…. strange! marriage and children are such shortcuts from hard decisions. if you don’t have those easy answers, the questions are harder.

And I love her answer and the longer unpacking of it, but it comes down to using your things to say thank you:

i have decided that whatever assets i do have at my death, will benefit a range of non-profits that i have had long, personal relationships with. these are not activist-type choices, these are choices that reflect gratitude for places that helped me become a better person.

Isn’t that such a lovely idea? Not to change the world (an activist-type choice) but to thank the world (a gratitude choice).

Erin McKeown seems like a lovely human being, so it fits. Go read her whole newsletter.