Say that you became great. Say that you were honored privately and publicly. Say that both the “faithful and the faithless” bowed before you, that they praised you, that they adored you, many of them, almost everyone.

And then, when your time came, you left for the journey with no return. And you depart with the illusion that you will remain in history, that you are history, and that you will never be forgotten.

Know this: no one will remember you. At best, they will remember what you did, what you said, what you wrote, what you painted or designed. Your photographs from moments of triumph and happiness will remain; some traces of you will remain, signs pointing toward you, but no one will truly remember you.

No one will remember the pain it took to create what you created, the humiliations you endured, the courage and bravery required to remain standing and dignified so that you might have something real, something authentic, to say to the world.

No one will remember your melancholy on cloudy days, your sorrows in times of loneliness, your joy in the days of friendship.

No one will remember the color of your eyes as you gazed at the sky during the dawn of the miracle of countless stars; no one will remember the delight of your senses when the first rains arrived.

No one will remember the way you touched, the way you smiled, the way you stood or sat, the way you expressed freedom, the way you asked for justice, the way you caressed, the way you pronounced the word joy and the phrase “I love you.”

You should know, you must know, that we are not merely what we create, what we say, what we design, write, or build. We are more than that, beyond the works of our hands. Much more.

We are souls traveling, dreams searching for fulfillment, hearts wandering through the darkness of the world looking for an embrace in which to rest.

We are far more than the small, wondrous, or great things we have made.

We are, all of us without exception, an insatiable love for life and communion, an endless thirst for love.

And because each of us is unique, no one will truly remember you. They will remember fragments of your journey, traces of your creation, but not you yourself.

So be careful. It is not worth wasting your soul — that unique treasure of yours — merely to become known and admired in the world of mortals with its narrow and selective memory.

Be careful. Do not lose your soul for the wrong reasons.

No one will remember you. And it would be tragic if, when the time comes, not even God Himself remembers you.

Acrylic inks on stones from Mount Hymettus.