Immortality
I often think about the difference between Jean de Reszke and Enrico Caruso. De Reszke was a great tenor of the 19th century; indeed, some have labeled him the greatest tenor of the 19th century. Caruso was a great tenor of the early 20th century. Caruso debuted at the Metropolitan Opera just as de Reszke's career ended. De Reszke was beloved and lived on in the hearts and minds of those who heard him; his fans criticized Caruso for being so different. Later, Caruso developed his own fans and was beloved by them. If that were all we knew, we would say they were both great and remember them equally. But today, Caruso is still well-known and loved by new fans and de Reszke is largely forgotten. Why? Because Caruso was the first great tenor of the era of sound recording. I've made an effort to find a recording of de Reszke and found one snippet of his voice but it tells me nothing about him. I can listen to Caruso regularly in enhanced versions and feel I know him as well as singers living today. Because of Caruso's fortunate timing, he will be heard forever and will never be forgotten. In some sense, Caruso is immortal.
It's a basic human instinct to seek immortality. The desire for immortality drives procreation, it drives health care, it drives almost everything we do. In various religions, it forms the basis of the theology. We all, in some way, desire to live forever. We know we can't physically live forever so we seek other ways.
Children are a way to live on. Children carry our genes, our thoughts, our memory and we hope that succeeding generations will enable us to live on in them. Sometimes people try too hard to relive their own lives through children, to push them in unnatural ways, but it's all part of the impulse to live forever. Others try to make the history books in some field. It's true that if you can set records in an occupation that lasts in people's interests you will be immortal; everyone seeing your name in the books will remember you and, to that degree, you will be immortal.
There's another, easier way to achieve immortality. If you can be memorable to one person, you can live as long as that person lives. And if he tells someone else about you, you can live in the memory of that other person. So maybe we should focus on being memorable to one person. We can do that as simply as by being nice to someone, by helping someone, by educating someone. As the Dalai Lama noted, if you share your knowledge you'll achieve immortality.
Somehow all of my columns seem to end up in the same place: Be nice. Be nice to everyone you meet and you'll be memorable. Seek to be remembered. If you succeed, you'll be immortal, you'll live forever in the heart and mind of someone.
5-16-05
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